UK spends most on music, books and videos

British consumers spend more on books, music, videos and DVDs than their European neighbours, research published yesterday shows.

The UK has the biggest music and video sectors in Europe and thriving book sales in children's fantasy and supermarket pulp fiction.

The British consumer spends on average £117 a year on books, music, videos and DVDs compared with £101 in Germany and £71 in France.

According to the research, by the market analysts Mintel, 21 per cent of the adult population in Britain buys at least 10 books a year compared with 13 per cent in Europe as a whole.

Richard Perks, senior European retail analyst, said: "Strong releases such as Harry Potter in the UK certainly helped to drive sales although more discounters and the grocers selling best-sellers at low prices are taking growth from the specialist retailers."

Britain's favourite bookshop remained WH Smith, where 22 per cent shopped, followed by Waterstone's, at 19 per cent.

Spending on music in the UK was the highest in Europe last year, with sales of £2.2bn, an annual rise of 5 per cent.

The European and British music markets both declined during the first six months of this year, a trend blamed on piracy and the popularity of CD copying and illegal song-swapping over the internet.

According to trade estimates almost 40 per cent of all CDs and cassettes bought globally had been pirated.

Although British sales of videos dropped by nearly 10 per cent between 1998 and 2001, there was a huge potential for growth in DVD sales, Mr Perks said. He added: "DVDs should continue to drive growth for a number of years." Future sales are forecast to rise with the success of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series.