The Christmas issue of Private Eye, the UK’s top-selling news and current affairs magazine, was its highest-ever with 287,523 sales.
The magazine fell by 2% year-on-year in July to December but, with an average circulation of 236,705, remained almost 100,000 sales ahead of The Economist on print sales in the UK.
Editor Ian Hislop said: “We are delighted to announce more record figures as the successful national roll-out of Private Eye continues – we are now on target to get a single dose of the magazine to every 16-94 year old in the country, with a top up every two weeks until May 2028 (is this right Ed?)”
The Week Junior, the current affairs magazine for children, had the largest year-on-year growth of 37% to 98,246 in print.
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Its paid subscriptions now stand at 90,273, an increase of 35% compared to July to December the year before.
Editor in chief Anna Bassi said: “It’s clear that our engaging, inspiring and trusted content is exactly what curious young readers are hungry for.”
The Week was hit harder by the drop in newsstand sales, with circulation falling by 7% to 126,055. UK print subscriptions fell by 5% year-on-year to 118,787.
The Spectator saw the biggest growth of adult-focused magazines, increasing its circulation by 11% in the UK and Ireland to 79,723 across the whole of 2020.
Globally, the magazine’s sales have topped 100,000 and editor Fraser Nelson said the success of the year meant its decision to hand back Government furlough money had paid off.
Nelson said: “When we packed up for lockdown last year, we feared the worst and furloughed staff. But we found the demand for our journalism had only increased. We were badly hit (newsagent sales and events especially) but saw we had a way out…
“The Spectator’s success is unusual in a magazine market that has fallen 50% over the last decade. That success is down to you, our subscribers.”
The biggest decline was at Time Magazine which fell 40% year-on-year to an average of 31,934 across 2020. Prospect fell by 30% to 27,375.
The Economist publishes the most detailed breakdown of its audience on ABC – scroll down for an in-depth look. In the UK its combined print and separately-audited digital edition circulation was 271,719 according to ABC.
News and current affairs ranked by UK/Ireland circulations:
| Publication | Global sales total | UK and ROI ABC total | UK year-on-year % change | Free copies | Months in audit period |
| Private Eye | 236,705 | 224,937 | -1% | 6 | |
| The Economist | 1,583,955 | 126,535 | -20% | 6 | |
| The Week | 131,770 | 126,055 | -7% | 3,676 | 6 |
| The Week Junior | 98,246 | 94,687 | 37% | 6,814 | 6 |
| The Spectator | 91,165 | 79,723 | 11% | 2,579 | 12 |
| New Scientist | 84,215 | 51,559 | -21% | 246 | 12 |
| The Oldie | 47,382 | 44,208 | 0% | 1 | 6 |
| London Review of Books | 88,421 | 41,873 | 11% | 4,154 | 12 |
| Time Magazine (British Isles) | 31,934 | 31,934 | -40% | 6,367 | 12 |
| MoneyWeek | 33,993 | 31,573 | -11% | 1,401 | 6 |
| New Statesman | 36,591 | 30,333 | -7% | 5,055 | 12 |
| Prospect | 32,258 | 27,375 | -30% | 1,556 | 12 |
| The Critic | 19,654 | 19,422 | 10,704 | 2 |
The Economist global audience (July to December 2020):
| Economist format | Audience |
| Website monthly unique browsers | 11.9m |
| Twitter followers (group) | 25,670,898 |
| Linkedin followers | 11,908,755 |
| Facebook likes (group) | 10,628,298 |
| Instagram followers | 5,335,040 |
| Newsletters total | 2,860,695 |
| Weibo followers | 2,211,884 |
| Youtube followers | 1,750,946 |
| Wechat followers | 896,554 |
| Digital edition | 874,802 |
| Print magazine | 709,153 |
| Website daily unique browsers | 502,698 |
| App (new) weekly unique browsers | 318,500 |
| App (legacy) weekly unique browsers | 188,400 |
| Digital edition (UK only) | 150,421 |
| Print magazine (UK only) | 126,535 |
| App (new) daily unique browsers | 101,436 |
| App (legacy) daily unique browsers | 53,154 |
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