Titles in the north and midlands, including the Birmingham Mail and Liverpool Echo, have seen the steepest drop in sales across paid-for daily regional newspapers, the latest ABC figures show.
The figures, for the six months to the end of June, painted a predictable picture of overall decline in the daily regional press.
Only the cuts-hit Leicester Mercury, owned by Trinity Mirror, recorded growth of any kind. It was up 2 per cent on the previous six months with sales of 29,317 copies and also suffered the shortest fall in year-on-year sales at 4 per cent.
The biggest drop came at the Wigan Evening Post, with average daily sales at 2,822 copies, down 30 per cent year-on-year and 24 per cent on the previous six months.
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In January the Post was declared “sub-core” by Johnston Press, meaning it delivered “very low levels of contribution” as a brand in terms of revenue at the publisher.
The Liverpool Echo’s decline in the first half of this year continues from the last six months of 2015, when it dropped 12.3 per cent year-on-year to an average of 52,389 sales per day.
In the six months to the end of June, it has fallen a further 9 per cent to 47,862 average daily sales – a fall of 20 per cent year-on-year.
The decline follows a major redesign last year that saw the paper change its ethos to have less emphasis on crime and more on positive news.
Other titles hit hard by a drop in sales were the Birmingham Mail, which saw sales fall to 21,086 copies – down 24 per cent year-on-year and 13 per cent on the previous six months.
The Coventry Telegraph, South Shields Gazette, Hartlepool Mail and Doncaster Star all saw sales fall by more than 20 per cent year-on-year.
Best-selling regional daily the Express and Star (West Midlands) was down 12 per cent year-on-year to 59,267 copies.
The Manchester Evening News was down 14 per cent year-on-year, but held steady at about 51,800 average daily sales compared with the previous six months.
Sales of the Yorkshire Evening Post were down 9 per cent on the previous six months to 18,093 copies.
In the south the Bournemouth Daily Echo and Southern Daily Echo in Southampton were down 15 per cent and 13 per cent year-on-year respectively.
Circulation figures for regional daily paid-for newspapers over the six months to the end of June (source: ABC):
| Title | Owner | Total | % change from last six months | % change year-on-year | Circ % |
| Express & Star (West Midlands) | The Midland News Association | 59,267 | -4.9 | -11.9 | 83.6 |
| Press & Journal (Aberdeen) | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 54,270 | -3.8 | -7.2 | 99.3 |
| Manchester Evening News | Trinity Mirror plc | 51,794 | -0.1 | -14.1 | 56.6 |
| Liverpool Echo | Trinity Mirror plc | 47,862 | -8.6 | -19.9 | 98 |
| Belfast Telegraph | Independent News & Media (NI) | 41,912 | -2.1 | -5 | 76.2 |
| The Courier (Dundee) | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 41,243 | -4.2 | -8.5 | 99.5 |
| Eastern Daily Press (Norwich) | Archant Ltd | 36,605 | -4.9 | -8.1 | 99.7 |
| Irish News – Morning | Irish News Co | 35,921 | -2.8 | -4.6 | 99.3 |
| The Herald (Glasgow) | Newsquest Media Group | 30,402 | -5.4 | -11.6 | 100 |
| Leicester Mercury | Trinity Mirror plc | 29,317 | 2 | -3.7 | 93.8 |
| The Sentinel | Trinity Mirror plc | 28,862 | -6.8 | -13.7 | 99.3 |
| Hull Daily Mail | Trinity Mirror plc | 28,686 | -4.2 | -9.2 | 99.8 |
| Shropshire Star | The Midland News Association | 28,441 | -5.1 | -12.1 | 97.1 |
| Newcastle Chronicle | Trinity Mirror plc | 28,258 | -6.9 | -14 | 97.4 |
| Evening Express (Aberdeen) | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 27,441 | -4.7 | -11.3 | 99.6 |
| Yorkshire Post (Leeds) | Johnston Press plc | 26,491 | 1.4 | -5.1 | 95.3 |
| Evening Times (Glasgow) | Newsquest Media Group | 25,679 | -7.4 | -14.3 | 100 |
| The Northern Echo (Darlington) | Newsquest Media Group | 25,290 | -5.8 | -9.1 | 100 |
| South Wales Evening Post | Trinity Mirror plc | 22,572 | -7.1 | -13.7 | 100 |
| The Gazette (Teesside) | Trinity Mirror plc | 22,513 | -5.3 | -11.7 | 97.3 |
| Birmingham Mail | Trinity Mirror plc | 21,086 | -13.1 | -23.8 | 99.5 |
| News & Sports Mail (Portsmouth) | Johnston Press plc | 20,818 | -8.1 | -14.2 | 99.7 |
| The Scotsman | Johnston Press plc | 20,304 | -10.7 | -14.6 | 88.9 |
| Evening News (Edinburgh ) | Johnston Press plc | 20,235 | -7.2 | -14.1 | 97.7 |
| Derby Telegraph | Trinity Mirror plc | 20,090 | -5.2 | -8.2 | 95.7 |
| Echo (Southend – Basildon – Canvey) | Newsquest Media Group | 18,996 | -6.6 | -11 | 99.9 |
| The Post | Trinity Mirror plc | 18,967 | -8.2 | -16.3 | 95.9 |
| Nottingham Post | Trinity Mirror plc | 18,610 | -6.1 | -9.6 | 90.8 |
| Plymouth – The Herald | Trinity Mirror plc | 18,191 | -4.1 | -9.7 | 100 |
| Yorkshire Evening Post (Leeds) | Johnston Press plc | 18,093 | -9.3 | -10 | 88.6 |
| Southern Daily Echo (Southampton) | Newsquest Media Group | 17,521 | -6.7 | -13.3 | 100 |
| Sheffield Star | Johnston Press plc | 17,159 | -8.6 | -15.5 | 100 |
| Ipswich – East Anglian Daily Times | Archant Ltd | 17,028 | -4.8 | -9.4 | 100 |
| Coventry Telegraph | Trinity Mirror plc | 16,475 | -9 | -22.7 | 99.2 |
| News Letter | Johnston Press plc | 16,396 | -1.3 | -6.4 | 99.3 |
| Dundee Evening Telegraph | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 16,354 | -3 | -9.5 | 99.7 |
| Cardiff – South Wales Echo | Trinity Mirror plc | 16,241 | -7.9 | -15.2 | 98.9 |
| The Press (York) | Newsquest Media Group | 15,428 | -7.2 | -11 | 100 |
| Telegraph & Argus (Bradford) | Newsquest Media Group | 14,813 | -6.9 | -11.5 | 100 |
| Sunderland Echo | Johnston Press plc | 14,038 | -7.9 | -16.9 | 100 |
| The Daily Echo (Bournemouth) | Newsquest Media Group | 13,987 | -9 | -14.7 | 100 |
| Jersey Evening Post | The Midland News Association | 13,791 | -5 | -8.1 | 95.4 |
| Guernsey Press & Star | The Midland News Association | 12,580 | -2.1 | -4.7 | 88.9 |
| Lancashire Telegraph – Blackburn | Newsquest Media Group | 11,807 | -6.3 | -11.3 | 86.1 |
| Lancashire Evening Post | Johnston Press plc | 11,632 | -6.1 | -11.4 | 100 |
| The Argus Brighton | Newsquest Media Group | 11,424 | -6.1 | -10.3 | 96.2 |
| South Wales Argus | Newsquest Media Group | 11,344 | -1.1 | -6.3 | 100 |
| Ipswich Star | Archant Ltd | 11,108 | -3.3 | -8.8 | 64.8 |
| Dorset Echo | Newsquest Media Group | 10,944 | -3.1 | -9.8 | 100 |
| Oxford Mail | Newsquest Media Group | 10,777 | -3.5 | -8.4 | 100 |
| The Gazette – Blackpool | Johnston Press plc | 10,332 | -10 | -15.4 | 100 |
| The Bolton News | Newsquest Media Group | 10,172 | -4.3 | -8.8 | 100 |
| Swindon Advertiser | Newsquest Media Group | 10,056 | -3.7 | -9 | 100 |
| Colchester – Daily Gazette | Newsquest Media Group | 9,866 | -6.4 | -10.8 | 99.9 |
| Evening News (Norwich) | Archant Ltd | 9,680 | -5 | -8.1 | 100 |
| Barrow – North West Evening Mail | CN Group | 8,458 | -4.7 | -11.1 | 98.2 |
| Oldham Evening Chronicle | Hirst Kidd & Rennie Ltd | 7,434 | -6.7 | -14.2 | 100 |
| Worcester News | Newsquest Media Group | 7,422 | -4.2 | -8.5 | 100 |
| News and Star East (Carlisle) | CN Group | 7,306 | -4.9 | -9.2 | 97.8 |
| Shields Gazette (South Shields) | Johnston Press plc | 6,152 | -14.4 | -24.8 | 100 |
| Hartlepool Mail | Johnston Press plc | 5,735 | -12.7 | -22.9 | 100 |
| Paisley Daily Express | Trinity Mirror plc | 4,986 | -2.4 | -7.4 | 100 |
| Wigan Evening Post | Johnston Press plc | 2,822 | -23.8 | -30.1 | 100 |
| Carlisle – News and Star West | CN Group | 2,789 | -4.1 | -14 | 96.8 |
| Doncaster Star | Johnston Press plc | 604 | -12 | -21.3 | 100 |
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