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August 26, 2015updated 27 Aug 2015 4:39pm

UK regional daily print sales down 10.2 per cent as Birmingham Mail loses a quarter of circulation

By Dominic Ponsford

The UK’s regional newspapers lost print sales at an average rate of 10.2 per cent year on year in the first half of 2015.

None of the 70 titles audited by ABC grew print sales year on year.

The biggest faller was the Birmingham Mail (once one of the UK’s biggest regional print titles). It fell 25 per cent year on year to an average of 27,663 sales per day. Its circulation drop was partly due to a reduction in free distribution from around 8,000 a day a year ago to around 2,000 in the first six months of the year.

The Lancashire Teleghraph grew its overall figure, but only thanks to the introduction of 1,615 free bulk copies to its circulation.

The Wolverhampton-based Express and Star remains the UK’s biggest selling UK regional daily with average circulation of 67,276 (down 13.1 per cent year on year).

UK regional daily newspaper circulations for the first half of 2015 (source: ABC)

Note: ABC did not provide year on year comparisons for Trinity Mirror titles. These were calculated by Press Gazette by comparing the figure for the first six months of this year with the monthly figure for June 2014 (TM titles have switched from monthly to six-monthly auditing).

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Title Media Owner Total YoY% % paid
London Evening Standard Evening Standard Limited 887,516 -0.3 Free
Express & Star (West Midlands) The Midland News Association 67,276 -13.1 88.2
Manchester Evening News Trinity Mirror plc 60,327 -14.3 59.4
Liverpool Echo Trinity Mirror plc 59,754 -4.3 98.3
Aberdeen – Press & Journal D C Thomson & Co Ltd 58,502 -5.9 99.2
Dundee – The Courier D C Thomson & Co Ltd 45,064 -7.9 99.5
Belfast Telegraph Independent News & Media (NI) 44,141 -8.1 77.4
Norwich – Eastern Daily Press Archant Ltd 39,821 -6.6 99.7
Irish News – Morning Irish News Co 37,666 -5.7 99.3
The Herald Newsquest Media Group 34,379 -8.9 100
The Sentinel Local World 33,426 -10.8 100
Newcastle Chronicle Trinity Mirror plc 32,848 -8.2 98.9
Shropshire Star The Midland News Association 32,340 -12 100
Hull Daily Mail Local World 31,601 -10 100
Aberdeen – Evening Express D C Thomson & Co Ltd 30,929 -11.4 99.5
Leicester Mercury Local World 30,448 -13 98.4
Glasgow – Evening Times Newsquest Media Group 29,951 -10.3 100
Leeds – Yorkshire Post Johnston Press plc 27,903 -10.1 95.3
Darlington – The Northern Echo Newsquest Media Group 27,819 -9.5 100
Birmingham Mail Trinity Mirror plc 27,662 -24.6 92.7
South Wales Evening Post Local World 26,144 -8.2 100
Teesside – The Gazette Trinity Mirror plc 25,493 -5 100
Daily Post (Wales) Trinity Mirror plc 24,713 -6.2 97.9
Portsmouth – News & Sports Mail Johnston Press plc 24,251 -13.2 100
The Scotsman Johnston Press plc 23,782 -12.6 89.8
Edinburgh – Evening News Johnston Press plc 23,550 -9.1 97.7
The Post Local World 22,667 -10 96
Derby Telegraph Local World 21,889 -13.2 99.2
Southend – Basildon – Castle Point – Echo Newsquest Media Group 21,352 -7 99.9
Coventry Telegraph Trinity Mirror plc 21,306 -8 90.8
Nottingham Post Local World 20,577 -12.6 97.7
Sheffield Star Johnston Press plc 20,305 -12.6 100
Southampton – Southern Daily Echo Newsquest Media Group 20,211 -9.8 100
Plymouth – The Herald Local World 20,139 -7.5 100
Leeds – Yorkshire Evening Post Johnston Press plc 20,093 -16.1 100
Cardiff – South Wales Echo Trinity Mirror plc 19,158 -10.4 100
Ipswich – East Anglian Daily Times Archant Ltd 18,802 -9 100
Wales – The Western Mail Trinity Mirror plc 18,641 -14.9 95.1
Dundee Evening Telegraph D C Thomson & Co Ltd 18,078 -8.5 99.8
News Letter Johnston Press plc 17,511 -9.3 99.1
York – The Press Newsquest Media Group 17,342 -11.7 100
Sunderland Echo Johnston Press plc 16,894 -17.7 99.7
Bradford – Telegraph & Argus Newsquest Media Group 16,737 -11.5 100
Bournemouth – The Daily Echo Newsquest Media Group 16,395 -9.2 100
The Journal Trinity Mirror plc 15,807 -9.1 99.9
Jersey Evening Post The Midland News Association 15,002 -3.9 95.5
Huddersfield Daily Examiner Trinity Mirror plc 14,051 -8.1 100
Lancashire Telegraph – Blackburn Newsquest Media Group 13,304 1.6 87.8
Guernsey Press & Star The Midland News Association 13,197 -3.7 89.6
Lancashire Evening Post Johnston Press plc 13,129 -11.9 100
The Argus Brighton Newsquest Media Group 12,736 -11.4 98.1
The Gazette – Blackpool Johnston Press plc 12,216 -13.8 100
Ipswich Star Archant Ltd 12,174 -7 67.9
Dorset Echo Newsquest Media Group 12,131 -8.6 100
South Wales Argus Newsquest Media Group 12,110 -8.2 100
Oxford Mail Newsquest Media Group 11,770 -7.9 100
The Bolton News Newsquest Media Group 11,157 -9.7 100
Colchester – Daily Gazette Newsquest Media Group 11,058 -5.5 99.8
Swindon Advertiser Newsquest Media Group 11,056 -7.8 100
Norwich – Evening News Archant Ltd 10,531 -4.8 100
Barrow – North West Evening Mail CN Group 9,513 -11.2 100
Oldham Evening Chronicle Hirst Kidd & Rennie Ltd 8,663 -11.9 99.8
South Shields – Shields Gazette Johnston Press plc 8,178 -19.1 100
Worcester News Newsquest Media Group 8,113 -8.7 100
Carlisle – News and Star East CN Group 8,043 -9.6 100
Hartlepool Mail Johnston Press plc 7,435 -15.7 100
Paisley Daily Express Trinity Mirror plc 5,387 -16.8 100
Wigan Evening Post Johnston Press plc 4,036 -10.1 100
Carlisle – News and Star West CN Group 3,244 -7.5 100
Doncaster Star Johnston Press plc 767 -25.2 100

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