GuideMeSingapore

Singapore’s publishing industry has made significant strides in the recent years and largely caters to the regional markets and the farer overseas market. Singapore is a small market with a total population of a little over 4.7 million people and the floating population of tourist will account for nearly another 10 million. To gain an understanding of publishing business in Singapore it is essential to gain a brief insight into the market traits & behavior in Singapore.

There is an extensive effort by the government to improve the educational profile of its residents and the efforts have registered results as well. 96% of the population is literate and over 89% of the population, aged between 25-39 years, has obtained secondary or higher educational qualification. The proportion of university graduates in the population increased to nearly 12% according to 2000 census.

Being home to multiple ethnic groups, there are four officially recognized languages- English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.  English is widely used language in public and administration. Chinese race being the dominant ethnic group in Singapore, Mandarin is also widely used. Hence when it comes to language of the books, English books have a bigger market by catering to the locals, tourists and expats.

The publishing industry in Singapore can comfortably be classified into 3 segments – Publishers of Educational materials and books, Publishers of miscellaneous books – majority of which is related to business and investment management / Self improvement books, Publishers of Newspapers and Magazines.

Educational Publications currently constitutes a significant portion of the publishing industry in Singaporeand will further get a boost by the government’s vision to build Singapore into a regional educational hub. It is the vision of the Government to create a Global Schoolhouse in Singapore by attracting leading international institutions and building local enterprises in education.  Singapore aims to develop a community of tertiary and specialty institutes, private schools, corporate universities, preparatory and boarding schools, e-learning and education businesses. As these efforts take shape there will more demand for educational material and also more content will be created with an Asian edge providing wider scope for publishers focusing on this segment.

Singapore promises very strong IP regimen it is one of the prime reason why many of the international publishers choose to operate from Singapore when they are focusing on the regional markets. With a Publishing hub in Singapore publishers can capitalize on the strong IP protection for the titles they publish.

Interested in doing business in Singapore? Find out how to setup a Singapore company.