February 10, 2017updated 20 Feb 2023 11:02am

Magazine ABCs: OK! sales hit hardest as women’s weeklies see circulation declines across the board

Sales of OK! Magazine fell by nearly a third in the second half of 2016 as every title in the womens’ weeklies sector lost sales year on year, new ABC figures show.

The celebrity news title dropped to around 184,000 copies a week (of which 90 per cent are actively purchased), down from more than 275,000 a week over the same period last year.

Other big losers included Closer, Heat, New!, Best, Star and Now magazines whose sales fell between 15 and 16 per cent year-on–year.

The Lady saw the smallest decline at 4 per cent year-on-year. The long-standing magazine distributes the largest amount of free copies (14 per cent) and has the lowest total sales figures at 25,593.

Take a Break magazine has by far the highest number of sales among the women’s weeklies, with more than 535,000 copies (down 8 per cent year-on-year) of which 100 per cent are actively purchased.

Its nearest rival is Woman’s Weekly, which distributed more than 256,000 copies over the six months to December.

Circulation figures for women’s weekly magazines over six months to December. Source: ABC

Title	Total combined circulation	YoY % change	% actively purchased
Take a Break	535,635	-7.9	100
Woman’s Weekly	256,885	-6	99.9
Chat	240,424	-8.3	100
Closer	216,651	-16.2	98.7
That’s Life	215,313	-5.8	100
Woman	205,562	-9.8	100
New!	202,845	-16.6	99.1
OK! Magazine	184,839	-31.4	90.4
Woman’s Own	182,916	-7.8	99.2
The People’s Friend	174,862	-7.9	99.9
Bella	164,521	-9.7	100
Best	137,615	-15.4	98.9
Real People	136,439	-10.3	99.4
Pick Me Up	130,981	-7	100
Heat	130,654	-16.5	93
Star	120,847	-17.6	99.1
Reveal	109,640	-9.1	98.9
Now	101,166	-17.3	99.9
My Weekly	98,567	-1.4	94.8
Love It!	81,533	-5.5	100
The Lady	25,593	-3.7	86.3