The Week’s total circulation fell by a quarter over the six months to the end of December last year, while its sister title The Week Junior grew by as much, the latest news magazine ABC figures show.
The week’s circulation was 151,236 for the period, down 25 per cent year-on-year, partially as a result of its decision to cut the number of free copies given away by 20,000.
The Week Junior, meanwhile, was up 26 per cent year-on-year to 60,542, of which 3,609 are free. Both titles are owned by Dennis Publishing, which was bought by private equity firm Exponent last year.
Scroll down for full ABC figures
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The Economist has worked with auditor ABC to change how its circulation figures are reported, consolidating its print offerings into one and separating it from its digital publication figures.
This, said Marina Haydn, managing director of circulation, reflected The Economist’s “product neutrality” – “we allow customers to choose their preference between print and digital”.
As a result it is showing a print circulation drop of 38 per cent, or 500,000 copies. This is because print figures are being compared combined print and digital figures used last year.
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The latest ABC figures show The Economist’s average global print circulation was 867,733. Global circulation for its digital edition topped 790,062.
In the UK and Ireland alone, The Economist sold 162,100 copies.
According to the Economist, like-for-like figures would put its print circulation down by ten per cent year-on-year and its digital circulation up by 83 per cent year-on-year.
The Times Literary Supplement also saw big gains.
News magazine circulation July-December 2018 (ABC):
| Publication | ABC total (average per issue) | Year-on-year ABC total % change | UK and Ireland total | Free copies | No. of issues |
| The Economist | 867,733 | -38% | 162,100 | 25 | |
| Private Eye | 233,869 | -5% | 221,043 | 13 | |
| The Week | 151,236 | -25% | 144,276 | 6,323 | 26 |
| The Spectator (excl. Australia) | 100,521 | 18% | 91,184 | 3,595 | 24 |
| BBC History Magazine | 94,628 | 0% | 65,048 | 14 | |
| Monocle | 84,331 | 0% | 12,219 | 4 | |
| London Review of Books | 75,725 | 2% | 35,984 | 4,516 | 24 |
| New Scientist (excl. Australasia, US, Canada) | 75,601 | -4% | 64,577 | 110 | 51 |
| The Week Junior | 60,542 | 26% | 58,221 | 3,609 | 26 |
| Times Literary Supplement | 46,145 | 23% | 30,606 | 5,513 | 24 |
| The Oldie | 45,754 | 2% | 43,037 | 1,348 | 6 |
| Prospect | 44,865 | 0% | 39,247 | 12,445 | 6 |
| Money Week | 37,907 | -18% | 37,263 | 1,288 | 26 |
| New Statesman | 35,637 | 2% | 30,530 | 10,115 | 47 |
| The Week Magazine | 34,996 | -10% | 26 | ||
| BBC Sky at Night | 19,202 | -7% | 17,476 | 12 | |
| What Franchise | 13,344 | 0% | 13,343 | 13,225 | 6 |
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