Frankfurt - The recession has reduced space bookings at the Frankfurt Book Fair by 2 per cent, the chief organizer said Tuesday.

Speaking a day before the meeting of world book publishers begins, Boos said the number of exhibiting firms, 7,314 was barely changed from 7,373 last year, but publishers had been economizing on how much space they rent in the pavilions for the five-day event.

The noticeable cuts had been by English-language and eastern European companies, Boos told reporters.

German book publishing has been relatively unscathed, marking up a 2.8-per-cent annual increase in its nine-month sales to the present, said the chairman of the Boersenverein, Germany's book publishing and bookselling federation.

Referring to the rapid rise of e-books and internet sales of digital works, Boos said the "central issue" for publishers from round the globe was "how do we earn money from digital content?"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was set to inaugurate the event Tuesday evening with Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping in attendance. The five-day fair opens for business on Wednesday.(dpa)