Latest ABC figures report continued drop in newspaper circulation

Newspaper circulation continued to fall across the board in the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures. Only a handful of papers, including The Observer, The Sun, the Financial Times and the Evening Standard, reported positive year on year figures.

Average circulation in the daily tabloid market fell by 0.56%, with only The Sun remaining steady – up 0.15% from 3,072,392 last year to 3,077,060. The Daily Mirror experienced a 4.06% decline, while the Daily Star dropped from 779,023 to 723,905 – a fall of 7.08%.

The mid market dailies were also hit by losses. The Daily Express dropped by 3.28% from 761,637 to 736,634, and the Daily Mail fell by 1.92% to 2,294,880 from 2,339,733 in 2007.

The trend continued in the quality daily market, which was down 3.15%. Only the Financial Times managed to avoid a drop, rising 0.69% to 448,342.

The Times, the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and the Independent all saw their circulations fall. The Times dropped 4.61% of its 642,711 circulation, which fell to 613,068. The Telegraph dropped 3.32% from 896,476 to 866,693, while The Guardian suffered a 2.43% drop (364,491 to 355,634). The Independent saw its figures fall by 4.45% from 264,182 to 252,435.

The Sunday papers were all hit by losses apart from The Observer, which rose 4.95% on last year’s figure of 442,137. The Sunday Express suffered the biggest fall, down 17.2% from 816,351 to 676,165. The Sunday Sport (12.88%) and The People (12.35%) also suffered notable losses.

Figures for the Sunday Times fell by 3.15%, while the Sunday Telegraph lost 5.17% of its readership. The Independent on Sunday experienced a decline of 4.83% from 239,585 to 228,012, The Mail on Sunday dropped 2.67% from 2,263,980 to 2,203,642 and The Sunday Mirror fell from 1,374,786 to 1,348,395 – down 1.92%

Meanwhile, the Freesheets continued to grow their distribution figures. Metro UK saw a combined growth across all of its regional papers of 19.5% from 1,116,655 to 1,334,385. The London Metro fared best individually with a 31.66% rise from 551,399 to 725,945.

News International’s thelondonpaper climbed from 411,722 to 492,253 – up 19.56% – while Associated rival London Lite jumped 3.03% from 387,026 to 398,736. Despite the growth of the freesheets, London’s Evening Standard also fared well with an 8.31% rise in circulation from 266,037 to 288,157.

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