News and current affairs continues to be a buoyant sector for UK magazines – with most titles enjoying healthy year-on-year circulations rises.
Dennis Publishing’s news digest magazine The Week was the best performer, up 19 per cent year-on-year to 143,700.
Private Eye continues to be the biggest title in this sector – with sales flat year-on-year at 208,945.
The New Statesman continues to perform well against last year’s figures – up 13.9 per cent to 29,041. But sales now seem to have flattened out since John Kampfner’s radical relaunch of the title early last year, it sold around 1,000 copies a week less in the first of this year than it did the second half of last year.
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The other left-of-centre weekly, Prospect, was another big winner – up 11.8 per cent compared with the first half of the year to 24,900.
The Spectator – which six months ago was up 5.3 per cent year-on-year to 72,034 – has not had an ABC reported this time around.
The circulation of many international business titles and news magazines may be flat or declining, daily newspapers are on a downward trend across the world and the internet has fragmented the news media market. However, among the high-end audience the opposite is true. The new ABC figures report that The Economist is growing impressively in all regions. Year on year growth is now at 11%, taking the magazine to a global circulation high of 1,260,457 – doubling circulation in a decade.
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The Economist’s seven per cent rise means it has now increased circulation in the UK by 54 per cent in the last 10 years. Worldwide it now sells 1,260,457.
Economist publisher Andrew Rashbass said: “Reports of the death of print have been greatly exaggerated. The affluent and the educated, globally, whether they are 25 or 45 years old are increasingly turning to The Economist and other publications for the fuel that feeds their ideas and satisfies their curiosity about the world.
“They read their Economist in Central Park, in the bath, on the plane and in the gym because it is a ritual pleasure in their lives. It meets a different need to the web.”
FULL mag ABCs round-up
Real life mags take a hit from newcomers: ABCs real life
Freesheet sports takes lead in men’s sector: ABCs: mens
Women’s weeklies continues to surge:ABCs: womens
Celeb weeklies show signs off fatigue:ABCs celeb weeklies
Dimished Q still top of music sector: ABCs music
TV choice continues to chase What’s On TV: Mag ABCs: TV
News and current affairs magazines ABC circulation figures for first half of this year (with percentage growth year-on-year)
News and current affairs (business and finance)
The Economist (UK edition): 172,842, up 6.6 per cent.
Fortune Magazine – Europe: 106,228, up 0.8 per cent.
Business Life: 93,087, down 4.2 per cent
My Money: 88,875 (Y/Y not available)
Investors Chronicle: 35,046, down 3.9 per cent.
MoneyWeek: 31,143, up 7 per cent.
News and current affairs: domestic
Private Eye: 208,945, up 0.7 per cent
The Week: 143,700, up 19 per cent
New Statesman: 29,041, up 13.9 per cent
The Oldie: 24,987, up 6.7 per cent
Prospect: 24,900, (Y/Y not available)
View from Honiton: 19,597
View from Bridport: 7,679
View from Crewkerne: 5,508
News and current affairs: international
Time Magazine – British Isles: 136,698, down 3.9 per cent
News and current affairs: science
New Scientist (worldwide sales excluding Australia, US and Canada): 114,967, up 4.6 per cent
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