Reading Difficulties for the Elderly Due to Presbyopia... Publishers Prepare 'Large Print Books'
Number of Titles Published: 576 in 2019, 1042 in 2020, 1410 in 2021, Increasing Annually
Sales Increased by 28.5% Last Year Compared to the Previous Year
[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Gun-chan] # Mr. An (53), who usually had good eyesight of about 1.5, now wears reading glasses. He tried not to use reading glasses to strengthen his eye muscles, but he could not prevent presbyopia caused by aging. Mr. An said, "I want to read books, but I can't see well, so it's frustrating," adding, "I'm looking mainly for large print books rather than regular paper books."
With the increase in the elderly population due to aging, more people are seeking large print books. The publishing industry is also accelerating efforts to prepare businesses for this group. It is a kind of blue ocean market. However, since a proper market has not yet been established, profitability is known to be limited.
According to Kyobo Bookstore, the number of large print book titles published, which was 576 in 2019, surged to 1,042 in 2020 and 1,410 in 2021. Last year, sales of large print books also increased by 28.5% compared to the previous year. Large print books refer to books printed in 16-point font, larger than the 9-point font size of regular paper books.
Until now, large print books were mainly found easily in libraries. The Korea Library Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have been conducting a project since 2009 to distribute large print books to public libraries nationwide every year. This aims to create an environment where vulnerable groups of various ages, such as middle-aged and low-vision individuals, can easily read books without vision aids like magnifiers or multifocal lenses.
Last year, reflecting library loan statistics and bookstore sales data, 16,000 copies of 24 selected large print book titles were produced and distributed to 700 public libraries. To date, over 13 years, 266 large print book titles totaling more than 140,000 copies have been distributed.
A representative from the Korea Library Association stated, "We will continue to work diligently to expand the collection of large print books in public libraries so that the large print book publishing market grows and more users can access large print books."
However, the influence of large print books in the publishing market remains minimal. Many publishers hesitate to publish them due to low profitability. Jeong Seong-jun, team leader of the Large Print Book Team at publisher Gimyeongsa, said, "When participating in the 'Large Print Book Distribution Support Project' conducted by the Library Association, the requested number of copies was about 300 to 400," adding, "Publishers have a minimum number of copies they need to produce considering unit costs, and since this number falls far short, it results in losses, but we participated because we sympathized with the project's purpose."
However, the number of publishers showing interest in the large print book market is gradually increasing due to aging. Rather than expecting immediate profits, they seem to be analyzing and preparing for the market in advance. This background in the industry is related to the aging society. According to Statistics Korea, South Korea will enter a super-aged society in 2025, when the population aged 65 and over will exceed 20% of the total population. The Korea Economic Research Institute analyzed that if the current trend continues, the proportion of elderly people in South Korea will reach 33.4% in 2041, meaning one in three people will be elderly.
There is also data showing that the reading rate decreases with age in this situation. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's "2021 National Reading Status" survey, the comprehensive reading rate of middle-aged and elderly groups has been steadily declining. The annual comprehensive reading rate of adults is 47.5%, but it is 35.7% for those in their 50s (a 9.2 percentage point drop compared to 2019) and 23.8% for those aged 60 and over (an 8.6 percentage point drop compared to 2019).
The decline in reading rates is also related to presbyopia. Presbyopia is characterized by clear vision of distant objects but blurred vision of close objects such as phones or books. Mr. An, who is experiencing presbyopia, said, "You can increase the font size on a phone, but you can't do that with paper books, so the opportunities to read books seem to be decreasing." Ultimately, people have no choice but to look for books with large print, which is why publishers are interested in this market.
Given this situation, the industry is making various preparations related to this market. Publisher Dasan Books created the 'Leaders One' senior platform brand responsible for producing and distributing large print books. Publisher Gimyeongsa has been actively launching large print books since 2019. They select bestsellers by category and publish about 10 titles every six months.
The industry expects demand for large print books to increase further. Jeong, team leader of Gimyeongsa's Large Print Book Team, emphasized, "The range of vulnerable readers is broad and actually starts from the 30s," adding, "We need to consider the vulnerable reader groups in their 30s and 40s who will shift to the 40s and 50s vulnerable reader groups in the future." He continued, "As large print books spread and other publishers start producing them, the market will expand further," and predicted, "Although the market is smaller compared to regular paper books, there will be much more demand as the large print book market grows."
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