November the 24th, 2025 – Interliber 2025 stretched from the 11th to the 16th of November this year, and it has been one of the best thus far in terms of both visitors and sales made.

As Ana Roksandic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Interliber 2025 proved to be an absolute hit, especially for publishers who prepared new and interesting titles for readers. The Zagreb Fair (Velesajam) was visited by around 120,000 people during the six days of the fair, and more than 360 exhibitors from 15 countries performed in the 200-hour programme.

“Interliber 2025 was one of the best in terms of both the number of visitors and sales alike. Those who didn’t have new titles repeated last year’s results, and those who had quality new titles recorded growth of up to ten percent, some even more, which are excellent results,” said Slavko Kozina, president of the Association of Publishers and Booksellers at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

The popularity of this fair, which has traditionally taken place in the Croatian capital in November for years now, is particularly impressive when compared to research from professional circles, according to which reading culture in Croatia was at a relatively low level this year. A survey conducted ahead of this year’s Book Night showed that 37 percent of Croats surveyed had read at least one book in the past year, and books are borrowed from libraries (45 percent) and purchased (42 percent) in almost equal numbers. The most frequent book buyers in Croatia are highly educated people aged 36 to 45 with higher incomes. The publishing industry employs around 3,000 people, of whom around 2,000 are publishers and bookstores and around 1,000 are writers, translators, proofreaders and other related professions, according to Kozina.

“Books are not affected by the inflation trends. Moreover, due to the events that are evenly present throughout the country today, all people, not only in Croatia, but also in neighbouring countries, can come and buy a book for less,” said Kozina.

Even in circumstances in which consumers are receiving a more favourable and wider offer, the results indicate that publishing houses continue to operate very stably and profitably. According to Fina’s data, it can be concluded that the larger publishing houses in Croatia operated profitably last year.

Školska knjiga achieved 41.3 million euros in revenue, 3.24 million euros in profit and an EBITDA of 9.44 million euros, which is the highest absolute result in the group and demonstrates high operational efficiency and the ability to generate strong cash flows, according to Fina’s data for 2024. The number of employees increased from 287 to 318, which indicates the expansion of business activities. Profil Klett recorded 16.05 million euros in revenue and 1.69 million euros in profit in 2024, with an EBITDA of 1.59 million euros.

The number of employees increased from 117 to 128, which indicates controlled and long-term growth based on strengthening internal resources. Alfa, with revenue of 12.27 million euros and profit of 2.09 million euros, achieves one of the higher profit margins among the companies analysed, which suggests effective cost control and a clearly focused business strategy.

Mozaik knjiga achieved revenue of 5.52 million euros last year, with profit of 290,000 euros and EBITDA of 390,000 euros. Employment has also remained very stable, without growth, which suggests strategic cost maintenance and more conservative growth. Verbum, with revenue of 6.26 million euros and profit of almost one million euros, achieved a very solid result with a practically unchanged number of employees.


 


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