More than 80% of Canadian magazine $2.4 billion in revenues were in Ontario and Quebec in 2008

Some highlights of Statscan's just-released comparative data for the periodical publishing  industry in Canada for the year 2008:

• Total operating revenues for the periodical publishing industry reached $2.39 billion in 2008, up 1.2% from 2007. Operating expenses totalled $2.10 billion, up 0.1% from a year earlier. As a result, overall operating profit margins increased to 12.3% from 11.3% in 2007.
• Just under thirty percent of industry operating expenses were spent on salaries, wages and benefits, which rose 3.4%to $620.7 million.
• The ten largest publishing companies accounted for just over half of industry operating revenues ($1.34 billion), and 79% of industry profits. These companies recorded an operating profit margin of 17.4%, up from 16.2% in 2007. By comparison, the remaining companies posted a operating profit margin of 5.9%in 2008, up from 4.8% the previous year.
• Firms located in Ontario and Quebec accounted for the majority of the industry’s operating revenues. Ontario firms accounted for 58.1% of total operating revenues in 2008. Quebec firms accounted for 22.2%, while those in the Prairies represented 10.3%.
• Average spending on periodicals was very stable, around $60 per household, from 1999 to 2005.
• Average spending on periodicals which had been steady around $60 per household, from 1999 to 2005 declined to $47 per household between 2006 and 2008, according to Statistics Canada’s Survey of Household Spending.