List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation

This is a list of the newspapers in the United Kingdom by average circulation.

In the early nineteenth century, newspapers circulations were small. The leading newspaper at the start of the century was the Morning Post, which sold around 4,000 copies per day, twice the sales of its nearest rival. As production methods improved, print runs increased, and newspapers were sold at lower prices. By 1828, the Morning Herald was selling the most copies, but it was soon overtaken by The Times.[1]

Public houses would typically take in one or two papers for their customers to read, and through this method, by the 1850s the newspaper of the licensed trade, the Morning Advertiser, had the second highest circulation. Sales of The Times were around 40,000,[2] and it had around 80% of the entire daily newspaper market,[3] but Sunday papers were more popular, some boasting sales of more than 100,000.[2] Later in the century, the Daily News came to prominence, selling 150,000 copies a day in the 1870s,[1] while by 1890, the Daily Telegraph had a circulation of 300,000. Sunday newspaper sales also grew rapidly, with Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper being the first to sell one million copies an issue.[2]

The press was changed by the introduction of halfpenny papers. The first national halfpenny paper was the Daily Mail,[1] followed by the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror, which became the first weekday paper to sell one million copies in around 1911. Circulation continued to increase, reaching a peak in the mid-1950s;[2] sales of the News of the World reached a peak of more than 8,000,000 in 1950.[4] Since the 1950s, there has been a gradual decline in newspaper sales.[2]

Contents

Daily newspapers

Circulation in the 2000s

Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Only newspapers with circulations of more than 100,000 copies per day in January 2009 are listed. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Title 2011[5] 2010[6][7] 2009[8][9] 2008[10] 2007[11] 2006[12] 2005[12] 2004[13] 2003[14] 2002[15] 2001 2000
The Sun 3,001,822 3,006,565 3,146,006 3,209,766 3,217,844 3,319,337 3,382,509 3,410,701 3,578,506 3,502,923 3,636,561[16] 3,557,336[16]
Daily Mail 2,136,568 2,120,347 2,200,398 2,313,908 2,354,028 2,389,011 2,409,121 2,485,210 2,518,544 2,489,264 2,479,768[17] 2,353,915[17]
Daily Mirror 1,194,097 1,218,425 1,366,891 1,512,599 1,621,000 1,727,672 1,748,327 1,919,125 2,071,059 2,164,576 2,149,422[18] 2,270,543[18]
Daily Star 734,311 779,376 768,534 722,969 773,637 820,070 861,825 901,879 835,343 706,554 543,807[19] 502,647[19]
Daily Telegraph 651,184 691,128 783,210 890,086 911,454 917,943 920,745 914,981 946,697 1,013,653 1,022,263[20] 1,039,749[20]
Daily Express 639,875 674,640 736,340 752,699 771,325 849,001 949,238 956,649 983,391 991,560 979,042[21] 1,050,846[21]
Evening Standard 601,960[22] 237,403[23] 294,823 276,562 337,080 350,671 395,090[24] 424,177[24] 410,104[24] 432,661[24] 440,287[24]
The Times 457,250 508,250 617,483 633,718 670,054 685,081 686,327 660,713 671,340 711,295 734,220[25] 726,349[25]
Financial Times 383,067 390,315 426,676 452,448 439,104 441,840 422,519 422,543 431,875 475,475 478,161[26] 435,478[26]
Daily Record 306,872 323,831 354,302[27] 393,788[27] 418,628 451,932 471,708 503,077 520,540 584,290 603,914[28] 626,646[28]
The Guardian 279,308 302,285 358,844 378,394 384,070 394,913 376,816 383,157 409,568 411,386 410,152[29] 401,560[29]
The Independent 185,035 185,815 215,504 250,641 263,503 258,387 257,100 248,876 221,926 224,655 223,645[30] 222,106[30]
i 133,472 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Express & Star 121,961[22] 128,836[31] 138,116[32] 143,522[32] 149,748[32] 156,579[32]
Manchester Evening News 102,536[33] 110,582[34] 161,545[35] 86,923[35] 114,676[35] 137,391[35] 139,959[35]

Circulation 1950–1999

Figures shown are average circulations for each year. Figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Title 1997[36] 1992[37] 1987[38] 1980[39] 1976[38] 1966[39] 1961[38] 1956[40]
The Sun 3,877,097 3,570,562 3,993,000 3,741,000 3,708,000 1,238,000 N/A N/A
Daily Mirror 2,442,078 2,900,000[41] 3,123,000 3,625,000 3,851,000 5,123,000 4,561,000 4,649,696
Daily Mail 2,344,183 1,675,453 1,759,000 1,948,000 1,755,000 2,318,000 2,610,000 2,071,708
Daily Express 1,241,336 1,524,786 1,697,000 2,194,000 2,594,000 3,978,000 4,328,000 4,042,334
Daily Telegraph 1,129,777 1,038,138 1,147,000 1,439,000 1,308,000 1,353,000 1,248,000 1,075,460
The Times 821,000 386,258 442,000 297,000 310,000 282,000 253,000 220,716
Daily Star 729,991 805,793 1,289,000 1,034,000 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Daily Record 703,090 755,026[42] 732,000
The Guardian 428,010 429,062 494,000 377,000 306,000 281,000 245,000 163,585
Financial Times 326,516 290,204 280,000 197,000 174,000 152,000 132,000 80,518
The Independent 288,182 389,523 293,000 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Press and Journal 105,076[43]
Glasgow Herald 104,844[42] 121,297[42]
Today N/A 533,177 350,000[44] N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Daily Herald N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1,394,000 1,693,997
Daily Sketch N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 857,000 981,000 1,123,855
Daily Worker N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 60,000
News Chronicle N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1,442,438

Circulation before 1950

Figures shown are average circulations for each year. Figures from after 1931 originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations; those from 1852 and 1838 originate from stamp duty returns.

Title 1947[38] 1939[45] 1930[45] 1921[45] 1863[46] 1852[47] 1838[48]
Daily Express 3,855,000 2,546,000 1,693,000 579,000 N/A N/A N/A
Daily Mirror 3,702,000 1,571,000 1,071,000 1,003,000 N/A N/A N/A
Daily Herald 2,134,000 1,850,000 1,082,000 211,000 N/A N/A N/A
Daily Mail 2,076,000 1,533,000 1,845,000 1,533,000 N/A N/A N/A
News Chronicle 1,623,000 1,571,000 1,400,000 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Daily Telegraph 1,015,000 737,000 90,000 180,000 120,000 N/A N/A
Daily Sketch 772,000 750,000 1,013,000 835,000 N/A N/A N/A
The Times 268,000 204,000 187,000 113,000 40,000 42,384 11,660
Manchester Guardian 126,000 3,173
Daily Worker 118,000 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Financial Times 71,000 N/A N/A N/A
Morning Advertiser 30,000[49] 20,000 7,124 5,000
Daily Chronicle N/A N/A N/A 661,000 N/A N/A N/A
Daily News N/A N/A N/A 300,000 5,000 3,938 N/A
Morning Post N/A N/A N/A 50,000 2,673 2,800
Morning Star N/A N/A N/A N/A 20,000 N/A N/A
Morning Herald N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,000 4,112 6,150
North British Daily Advertiser N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,458
Morning Chronicle N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,283 6,630
Liverpool Mercury N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,019

Sunday newspapers

Circulation in the 2000s

Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Only newspapers with circulations of more than 100,000 copies in January 2009 are listed. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Title 2011[5] 2010[6][7] 2009[50][51] 2008[11] 2007[11] 2006[12] 2005[12] 2004[52] 2003[53] 2002[54] 2001 2000
News of the World 2,789,560 2,984,469 3,031,025 3,264,676 3,426,719 3,789,176 3,823,317 3,845,373 3,971,998 4,086,621 4,026,288[55] 4,139,793[55]
The Mail on Sunday 1,958,083 2,048,008 2,134,809 2,330,366 2,303,472 2,404,511 2,446,465 2,364,156 2,388,416 2,342,860 2,373,007[56] 2,323,720[56]
Sunday Mirror 1,092,816 1,124,620 1,244,007 1,366,922 1,460,928 1,574,054 1,652,375 1,674,454 1,724,940 1,845,860 1,831,572[57] 2,008,961[57]
The Sunday Times 1,039,371 1,144,929 1,198,984 1,231,374 1,288,421 1,375,153 1,375,982 1,370,051 1,410,539 1,405,430 1,416,080[58] 1,373,900[58]
Sunday Express 550,269 585,023 646,971 704,436 790,068 877,101 976,055 930,001 976,346 834,999 879,622[59] 974,310[59]
The People 500,866 532,975 594,552 669,362 761,595 895,275 1,001,389 1,055,810 1,189,812 1,389,778 1,489,260[60] 1,613,113[60]
The Sunday Telegraph 496,128 527,742 602,306 633,639 659,841 682,739 692,107 695,522 751,038 784,069 796,840[61] 822,931[61]
Sunday Mail 366,325 395,126 442,103[27] 487,975 514,287 547,405 585,657 605,743 628,742 692,366 708,484[62] 751,084[62]
Sunday Post 317,896 337,398 366,275[27] 412,037 437,224 451,530[63] 481,767[63] 514,181[63] 547,256[63] 581,218[63] 612,562[63] 655,634[63]
Daily Star Sunday 316,712 358,814 359,533 382,288 378,224 439,067 459,933 556,743 510,995 N/A N/A N/A
The Observer 314,164 354,565 427,867 444,951 444,186 542,075 446,818 459,804 465,984 449,806 440,090[64] 416,460[64]
Independent on Sunday 152,561 153,975 178,798 236,500 247,829 241,414 206,527 206,087 220,028 231,869 250,462[65] 248,630[65]
Sunday Business N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 204,910[66] 306,683 N/A N/A N/A N/A

Circulation in the 20th century

Figures shown are average circulations for each year. Figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Title 1997[36] 1987[38] 1980[39] 1976[38] 1966[39] 1961[38] 1956[40] 1947[38] 1935[67]
News of the World 4,620,415 5,360,000 4,335,000 5,138,000 6,152,000 6,643,000 7,493,463 7,890,000 3,350,000
Sunday Mirror 2,424,000 2,953,000 3,831,000 4,101,000 5,219,000 5,306,000 5,624,010 4,006,000 2,250,000
The Mail on Sunday 2,322,423 1,919,000 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
The People 2,001,978 2,743,000 3,847,000 4,094,000 5,560,000 5,450,000 4,948,215 4,670,000 3,000,000
The Sunday Times 1,449,113 1,314,000 1,424,000 1,382,000 1,363,000 967,000 618,540 568,000 215,000
Sunday Express 1,261,690 2,033,000 3,045,000 3,451,000 4,181,000 4,457,000 3,331,127 2,577,000 1,096,000
The Sunday Telegraph 983,253 693,000 1,017,000 759,000 650,000 688,000 N/A N/A N/A
Sunday Mail 818,081[43] 567,728[49] 250,000
Sunday Post 791,100[43] 312,000
The Observer 498,086 722,000 973,000 670,000 881,000 715,000 601,042 384,000 215,000
Independent on Sunday 311,321 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Scotland on Sunday 113,516[43] N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Reynolds News N/A N/A N/A N/A 216,000 310,000 516,445 720,000 400,000
Sunday Dispatch N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,420,159 2,061,000 936,000
Sunday Graphic N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,420,159 1,185,000 900,000
Empire News N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,550,308 2,033,177[49] 1,535,000
Sunday Chronicle N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1,178,000 830,000
Sunday Referee N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 215,000

Circulation in the 19th century

Figures shown are average circulations for each year. Figures originate from stamp duty returns.

Title 1863[46] 1853[47] 1838[48]
Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 500,000 N/A N/A
Weekly Times 200,000 65,420 N/A
News of the World 150,000 69,296 N/A
Reynold's Weekly 100,000 30,035 N/A
Illustrated London News 82,331 N/A
Weekly Dispatch 35,420 51,570
Bell's Life in London 27,200 20,000
Sunday Times 8,500 13,365
Weekly Chronicle N/A N/A 32,327
Bell's Weekly Messenger N/A N/A 17,274

Regional newspapers

Figures shown are average circulations for each year. Figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Title 1980[39] 1956[40] 1948[68] 1939[68]
Evening News (London) 1,121,195 1,652,646 837,638
The Star (London) N/A 926,884 1,081,812 488,419
Evening Standard (London) 662,608 780,820 384,419
Manchester Evening News 331,000
Liverpool Echo 236,000
Liverpool Post N/A 382,169 236,986
Bristol Evening Post 110,000
Birmingham Mail 296,259
Glasgow Evening Times 295,515
Yorkshire Evening Post 250,877 185,519
Evening Express (Aberdeen) 114,700 104,322
Yorkshire Post 151,524 79,912

References

  1. ^ a b c The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: Volume XIV - The Victorian Age, Part Two
  2. ^ a b c d e John B. Thomson, Ideology and Modern Culture
  3. ^ Robert L. Bishop, "The Decline of National Newspapers in the UK", International Communication Gazette 1983: 31, p.206
  4. ^ "Sundays get a roasting", Press Gazette, 11 May 2001
  5. ^ a b Oliver Luft, "ABC: i debuts with daily circulation of 133,472 in January", Press Gazette, 11 February 2011
  6. ^ a b "ABCs: Sun back over 3m but Star is only climber", Press Gazette, 12 February 2010
  7. ^ a b Oliver Luft, "ABC: Telegraph drops below 700,000", Press Gazette, 12 February 2010
  8. ^ Paul McNally, "January ABCs: Daily Star is lone riser after price cut", Press Gazette, 6 February 2009
  9. ^ Oliver Luft, "ABC bulks probe: National sales figures revised", Press Gazette, 14 August 2009
  10. ^ "January ABCs: Sun sales back above three million", Press Gazette, 8 February 2008
  11. ^ a b c "Multi Platform Monthly Report: January 2008", Audit Bureau of Circulations
  12. ^ a b c d Dominic Ponsford, "January ABCs: Observer up 21 per cent following relaunch to 542,000 sales", Press Gazette, 17 February 2006
  13. ^ "National daily newspaper circulations: January 2004", Media Guardian
  14. ^ "National daily newspaper circulations: January 2003", Media Guardian, 12 February 2003
  15. ^ "National daily newspaper circulations: January 2002", Media Guardian, 11 February 2002
  16. ^ a b The Sun, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  17. ^ a b Daily Mail, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  18. ^ a b Daily Mirror, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  19. ^ a b Daily Star, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  20. ^ a b The Daily Telegraph, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  21. ^ a b Daily Express, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  22. ^ a b Daily Paid & Free, Newspaper Society
  23. ^ Dominic Ponsford, "January ABCs: Standard losing sales at rate of 14.5%", Press Gazette, 6 February 2009
  24. ^ a b c d e Evening Standard, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  25. ^ a b The Times, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  26. ^ a b Financial Times, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  27. ^ a b c d Owen Amos, "January ABCs: Scotland's best performance is 9.3% fall", Press Gazette, 6 February 2009
  28. ^ a b Daily Record, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  29. ^ a b The Guardian, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  30. ^ a b The Independent, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  31. ^ Dominic Ponsford, "Many regional dailies tumble more than 10%", Press Gazette, 27 August 2009
  32. ^ a b c d Express & Star (West Midlands), Audit Bureau of Circulations. The circulation figures for the Express & Star are given biannually; the figure given is that for the first half of the year in each case
  33. ^ Figure calculated from three-day and two-day average circulations given at Daily Paid & Free, Newspaper Society
  34. ^ The Manchester Evening News left the Audit Bureau of Circulations in August 2009. The figure given is calculated from their own statement of average circulation from April to June 2009, cited in the Press Gazette.
  35. ^ a b c d e Manchester Evening News, Audit Bureau of Circulations. The circulation figures for the Manchester Evening News are given biannually; the figure given is that for the first half of the year in each case
  36. ^ a b John Frain, Introduction to Marketing, p.372
  37. ^ Ivor Crewe, Brian Gosschalk, Political Communications, p.172
  38. ^ a b c d e f g h Justin Fisher, D. T. Denver and John Benyon, Central Debates in British Politics, p.197
  39. ^ a b c d e United Newspapers PLC and Fleet Holdings PLC, Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1985), pp.5–16
  40. ^ a b c Tony Shaw, Eden, Suez and the Mass Media, p.197
  41. ^ Crewe and Gosschalk give a figure of 3,660,756 for the Mirror and Record combined. This is an approximate figure found by subtracting the Record circulation given by Seawright and rounding to the nearest 100,000.
  42. ^ a b c David Seawright, An Important Matter of Principle, p.183
  43. ^ a b c d D. T. Denver, Hugh Bochel, Scotland decides, p.79
  44. ^ Andreas H. Jucker, Social Stylistics, p.47
  45. ^ a b c James Curran et al., Impacts and Influences, p.29
  46. ^ a b Samuel Rhoads and Enoch Lewis, Friends' Review, p.603
  47. ^ a b William Turner Coggeshall, The Newspaper Record, pp.87–89. Figures for newspapers published outside London are calculated from annual sales assuming 312 issues per year.
  48. ^ a b The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Difussion of Useful Knowledge, pp.195
  49. ^ a b c Viscount Camrose, British Newspapers and their Controllers
  50. ^ Owen Amos, "January ABCs: Sindy slumps 25% with drops all round", Press Gazette, 6 February 2009
  51. ^ Oliver Luft, "ABC bulks probe: National sales figures revised", Press Gazette, 14 August 2009
  52. ^ "National Sunday newspaper circulations: January 2004", Media Guardian
  53. ^ "National Sunday newspaper circulation January 2003", Media Guardian, 12 February 2003
  54. ^ "National newspaper circulation: Sundays: January 2002", Media Guardian, 11 February 2002
  55. ^ a b News of the World, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  56. ^ a b The Mail on Sunday, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  57. ^ a b Sunday Mirror, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  58. ^ a b The Sunday Times, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  59. ^ a b Sunday Express, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  60. ^ a b The People, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  61. ^ a b The Sunday Telegraph, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  62. ^ a b Sunday Mail, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  63. ^ a b c d e f g Sunday Post, Audit Bureau of Circulations. Note that circulation figures for the Sunday Post before October 2006 were given biannually; the figure given is that for the first half of the year in each case.
  64. ^ a b The Observer, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  65. ^ a b Independent on Sunday, Audit Bureau of Circulations
  66. ^ "National Sunday newspaper circulation January 2005, Media Guardian
  67. ^ The Political Quarterly 1935, pp.112–113
  68. ^ a b ABC Net Sales 1939-1948