Italy’s antitrust authority has called on the Ministry of Education to keep a closer watch on the school textbook market after concluding a wide-ranging investigation into the sector. The findings paint a picture of a large but sluggish industry, where families face rising costs and competition remains weak.
Every year, school textbooks are used by around eight million students and one million teachers. Over the course of secondary education, families spend on average more than €1,800 on books. New textbooks alone account for roughly €800 million a year, with another €150 million coming from second-hand sales.
While prices have risen broadly in line with inflation, the authority notes that falling purchasing power has made these costs harder to bear, especially in regions where public support is uneven. The market is also highly concentrated: four major publishing groups control more than 80 percent of sales.
A legal cap limiting discounts on new textbooks to 15 percent is another issue. According to the watchdog, this rule restricts competition and keeps prices higher than they might otherwise be. For this reason, it has urged the government to review existing regulations and strengthen oversight.
Digital textbooks were meant to ease costs and improve access, but progress has been slow. Although most schools now use books that include digital content, only a small fraction of licenses are actually activated. Rigid licensing terms and incompatible platforms also make it harder to resell books or use them in lending schemes.
The authority also sees potential in open educational resources and teacher-produced materials, especially when combined with artificial intelligence tools. But without clearer rules and incentives, these alternatives are unlikely to challenge traditional publishers in any meaningful way.
Among the proposals now on the table is a more modular approach to textbooks, using QR codes and digital add-ons to reduce both costs and the physical weight of books, an issue that still affects Italian students more than their peers elsewhere in Europe.