The Daily Mail and the Star titles were the only national newspapers to increase sales year on year in December.
Sales of the Daily Star continue to be fuelled by a price cutting strategy which makes it the cheapest national daily at 20p. The daily edition rose 8.2 per cent year on year to 784,958, and the Sunday edition was up 3.28 per cent to 353,249.
The Sun, on sale for 20p in much of the country, also put in a creditable sales performance in December – down just 1.25 per cent year-on-year to 2,862,935.
The Daily Mail managed a 0.17 per cent hike in circulation to 2,113,134. But it has increased its free bulk circulation, delivered to places like hotels and airports, from 100,591 a year ago to 128,139.
Elsewhere in the popular and mid-markets there were some huge year-on-year declines. The 45p Daily Mirror is evidently finding it hard to compete with its cut-price red-top rivals and fell 9 per cent year on year to 1,225,502.
Among the quality and mid-market Sundays the Mail on Sunday put in a strong performance, dropping just 0.16 per cent year on year to stay just above the two million mark.
Free distribution of the Evening Standard was steady in December at 608,533.
National newspaper circulations for December 2009 (source ABC) with percentage change year on year
Dailies:
- Daily Mirror 1,225,502 -9.01
- Daily Record 314,753 -9.87
- Daily Star 784,958 8.17
- The Sun 2,862,935 -1.25
- Daily Express 677,750 -6.94
- Daily Mail 2,113,134 0.17
- The Daily Telegraph 703,249 -9.37
- Financial Times 400,827 -6.46
- The Herald 55,811 -7.91
- The Guardian 300,540 -12.38
- The Independent 186,940 -6.64
- The Scotsman 44,972 -6.11
- The Times 521,535 -13.22
- Racing Post 56,245 -7.23
Sundays:
- Daily Star Sunday 353,249 3.28
- News of the World 2,791,773 -6.56
- Sunday Mail 386,920 -12.08
- Sunday Mirror 1,113,310 -6.89
- The People 532,680 -10.07
- Sunday Express 590,596 -7.51
- Sunday Post 334,737 -8.44
- The Mail on Sunday 2,000,473 -0.16
- Independent on Sunday 155,460 -4.94
- The Observer 351,019 -16.49
- Scotland on Sunday 54,949 -5.36
- Sunday Herald 40,619 -4.13
- The Sunday Telegraph 525,088 -8.72
- The Sunday Times 1,113,195 -3.67
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