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The Economist is the UK magazine title with the most digital edition sales, according to figures for the first half of 2014 released by ABC.

The current affairs title has a paid-for print circulation of 139,629 in the UK and adds a further 21,780 a week thanks to sales of the digital facsmile of the magazine.

Just under half of the 214 magazine titles audited by ABC in the first half of this year offer digital editions. These are digital replicas of the print magazine, rather than apps or websites.

As a whole, digital edition sales remain tiny compared with print.

While the Economist tops the digital edition table provided by ABC, The Week is seperately audited has a "digital publication". It has digital publication sales of 26,283 according to ABC, versus total print circulation of 199,459.

The 94 titles offering digital editions audited by ABC in the first half of this year had combined print sales of 13.1m compared with digital edition sales of 337,795 (2.5 per cent of the combined total).

But for the titles which have embraced digital editions they represent a significant proportion of total sales.

Total Film sells some 14,091 digital editions a month, versus 45,288 print, and Wired sells 8,136, compared with 37,284 in print.

Gay lifestyle magazine Attitude outsold much bigger rivals such as GQ, Esquire and Men’s Health in terms of digital editions with average circulation of 13,373 a month.

Chief executive of magazine industry trade body the PPA Barry McIlheney pointed out that digital editions are only part of the digital story for magazines.

“The growth of digital editions is encouraging for the sector, and it should also be remembered that this ABC report does not include the increasing number of other ways – websites, live events, social media, etc. – in which the magazine brands of today engage directly with their consumers.

“The growing demand for digital content continues to place pressure on print magazines in some markets, but there are also a number of highlights in this report that demonstrate the continued robustness of print for certain brands, in certain markets, and among certain demographics.

“Overall, this ABC report shows how today’s modern magazine brands are continuing to extend their cross-platform audience reach and grow their influence as a key platform for advertisers.

“This growing reach and influence of magazine media is something that will be further demonstrated and promoted by the new consumer magazine media marketing agency, to be launched in the final quarter of this year. Further information on this will be provided in the coming weeks."

UK magazines ranked by digital edition sales in the first half of 2014 (source ABC)

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