It is common knowledge, at least in the translation industry, that only around 3 percent of all books published in the United States are translations. Indeed, this rather dismal statistic has been enshrined in the name of one of the most important online forums for international literature, the University of Rochester’s excellent website Three Percent. In fact, however, a closer look at the statistics reveal an even worse state of affairs, as the three percent figure is bolstered considerably by technical manuals and other non-fiction texts: for literary fiction and poetry, the figure is actually closer to 0.7%.

And the figure is not much better in other English-speaking countries… even here in Canada, where the few literary translations published are mostly between the country’s two official languages, and with the support of the government’s cultural promotion body, the Canada Council. Conversely, the percentage of translations in non-Anglophone countries tends to range anywhere from around 28% (in the case of France) to 40% (in Turkey), although even higher proportions can be found in smaller markets, like Slovenia (70%). More.

See: Diálogos Intercultural Services

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