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September 12, 2019updated 30 Sep 2022 8:19am

National newspaper ABCs: Guardian sees smallest circulation decline in August as Daily Star Sunday worst hit

By Charlotte Tobitt

The Guardian recorded the smallest year-on-year circulation decline among UK national newspapers in August for the second month in a row.

However all UK national newsbrands are continuing to see print circulations fall, according to the latest ABC figures.

The Guardian recorded a year-on-year circulation drop of 5 per cent to an average of 128,265 copies in August.

The biggest year-on-year decline was reported by the Daily Star Sunday at 19 per cent, followed by the Sunday People at 18 per cent.

The Sun remains the best-selling national newspaper with an average circulation of 1.3m in August, despite a 12 per cent drop.

The Daily Mail is close behind on 1.2m and has set new retail market share records for its weekday, Saturday and Sunday editions.

Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig said: “We’re delighted by these record results for Mail newspapers, which are an endorsement from our loyal readers that they value our commitment to quality journalism, through our exclusives, compelling campaigns, and the best-read columnists.

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“The Daily Mail on a Saturday is the best-selling newspaper in Britain and every day of the week we have the most read supplements and lifestyle sections. We will continue to invest in journalism that positively reflects the country we live in.”

The Saturday edition of the Daily Mail has a bigger average circulation than the Sun by about 142,662 copies.

The free Metro has the largest circulation of any UK newspaper at 1.4m.

National newspaper circulations for August 2019 (ABC):

Product Total average circ. Aug 2019 Year-on-year % change Bulks
Metro FREE 1,402,836 -4%
The Sun 1,268,839 -12% 66,859
Daily Mail 1,164,025 -8%
The Sun on Sunday 1,081,726 -12% 66,861
The Mail on Sunday 979,169 -8%
Evening Standard FREE 816,813 -5%
The Sunday Times 655,103 -9% 50,990
Daily Mirror 482,194 -14%
Sunday Mirror 395,932 -15%
The Times 371,559 -13% 52,917
The Daily Telegraph 315,270 -15%
Daily Express 305,629 -10%
Daily Star 303,425 -16%
Sunday Express 265,699 -11%
The Sunday Telegraph 249,425 -14%
i 228,754 -6% 50,371
Daily Star – Sunday 180,923 -19%
Financial Times 162,972 -7% 29,425
The Observer 155,465 -6%
Sunday People 150,437 -18%
The Guardian 128,265 -5%
Sunday Mail 112,499 -14%
Daily Record 111,829 -12%
Sunday Post 94,732 -17% 538
City AM FREE 76,030 -9%

Picture: Reuters/Andrew Winning  

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