Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some issues are distributed without cost to the reader. Readership figures are usually higher than circulation figures because of the assumption that a typical copy is read by more than one person.
Print circulation is a good proxy measure of print readership and is thus one of the principal factors used to set print advertising rates (prices). In many countries, circulations are audited by independent bodies such as the Audit Bureau of Circulations to assure advertisers that a given newspaper does reach the number of people claimed by the publisher. There are international open access directories such as Mondo Times, [1] but these generally rely on numbers reported by newspapers themselves.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) publishes a list of newspapers with the largest circulation. In 2011, India led the world in terms of newspaper circulation with nearly 330 million newspapers circulated daily. [2] In 2010, China topped the list in term of total newspaper circulation with 110.78 million a day, ahead of India in second with 100.993 million, followed by Japan, with 50.4 million; the United States, with 48.5 million; and Germany, with 19.7 million. In the 2019 survey, among the top 10 newspapers, all were Asian newspapers and four were Japanese newspapers.
The Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun (読売新聞), Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞) are still the largest circulated newspapers in the world. The Times of India is the largest circulated English-language daily newspaper in the world, across all formats (Broadsheet, Compact, Berliner and Online). Reference News (《参考消息》) is the most popular paper in China.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the daily circulation of the Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda exceeded 21,500,000 in 1990, while the Soviet weekly Argumenty i Fakty boasted a circulation of 33,500,000 in 1991.
In many developed countries, print circulation is falling due to social and technological changes such as the availability of news on the internet. On the other hand, in some developing countries circulation is increasing as these factors are more than cancelled out by rising incomes, population, and literacy.
The Herald Sun has the highest circulation in Australia. Based in one of the country's two major cities, Melbourne, it is the result of the amalgamation of the original Sun and Herald newspapers.
The Belgian institution CIM (Centre for Information about Media) publishes national circulation figures for all written, audiovisual and web-based media in Belgium. The top ten best-selling papers according to their website are Het Laatste Nieuws , 317,715; Het Nieuwsblad , 245,209; SUD Presse (group of papers focused on community specific content), 147,749; Het Belang van Limburg , 121,428; Le Soir, 113,780; Vers l'avenir, 109,287 (group of papers focused on community specific content); La Dernière Heure, 107,583; De Standaard , 104,758.
 | This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Toronto Star is no longer the most circulated newspaper in Canada.(May 2021) |
The most widely read paper in the country is the Toronto Star , which, as of the six-month period ending on March 31, 2007, averaged 634,886 copies sold on Saturday, 436,694 Monday to Friday, and 442,265 on Sunday. [3] The second most widely read paper is Toronto-based national newspaper The Globe and Mail , which averaged 374,000 copies on Saturdays, and 303,000 Monday to Friday. The most widely read French-language newspaper is Le Journal de Montréal, which averaged 319,899 copies on Saturday, 267,404 Monday to Friday, and 264,733 on Sunday. Unlike in the United States, newspapers in Canada published their biggest and mostly widely read editions on Saturdays.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations [4] shows that the largest read local language newspapers to be Dainik Bhaskar (with 4.320 million readers) and Dainik Jagran (with 3.410 million readers), both published in Hindi. The Times of India is the most widely read English language newspaper ( 3.029 million), followed by Malayala Manorama (2.370 million), Amar Ujala (2.067 million), Hindustan Times (1.132 million), Eenadu (1.732 million), Daily Thanthi is a Tamil daily (1.498 million), Anandabazar Patrika is Bengali language newspaper(1.075 million). Malayala Manorama newspaper which is published in Malayalam from Kerala, currently has a readership of over 2.370 million (with a circulation base of over 2.4 million copies) has the most circulation in other languages.
The 2022 circulation figures for the morning and evening editions of Japan's newspapers: Yomiuri Shimbun, 6,870,000; The Asahi Shimbun, 5,890,000; Mainichi Shimbun, 2,572,000; Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1,731,000; Chunichi Shimbun/Tokyo Shimbun,2,871 ,000; Sankei Shimbun, 1,330 ,000; Nikkan Sports, 1,661 ,828; Hokkaido Shimbun, 1,896,594; Shizuoka Shimbun, 1,479,000; .
The Norwegian Media Businesses' Association publishes national circulation figures for every newspaper in Norway every year. In 2011 the most read newspaper was the Oslo-based national newspaper Aftenposten, with a circulation of 235,795 followed by the tabloid Verdens Gang with 211,588. The local evening newspaper Aften averages 101,574 and the tabloid Dagbladet had 98,989 readers. The financial newspaper Dagens Næringsliv averaged 82,595. In the top ten list it is followed by five local newspapers: Bergens Tidende, 79,467; Adresseavisen, 71,657; Stavanger Aftenblad, 63,283; Fædrelandsvennen, 36,604 and Drammens Tidende, 33,352. [5]
As of August 2016, the top 6 best-selling papers are respectively: Hürriyet, 340,898; Sözcü, 322,829; Sabah, 313,989; Posta, 302,919; Habertürk, 253,256 and Milliyet, 143,577.
According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations the newspaper with the UK's highest paid circulation is the Daily Mail at 800,110 as of November 2022. [6]
The heyday of the newspaper industry was the 1940s, but the percentage of Americans reading newspapers began to decline with the increased competition from radio, television and, more recently, the Internet. A growing population helped the absolute circulation numbers continue to increase until the 1970s, where it remained stable until the 1990s, when absolute circulation numbers began declining.
Newspaper circulation numbers are reported to the Alliance for Audited Media. The best-selling papers in America, measured by combined daily average circulation as of March 31, 2013, are the Wall Street Journal with 2,378,827 in circulation; The New York Times at 1,865,318; and USA Today with 1,674,306. Overall, for the 593 reporting newspapers, daily circulation declined 0.7 percent year-over-year between March 2012 and March 2013. Sunday circulation was down 1.4 percent over the same period. [7]
A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. There is no standard size for this newspaper format.
Eenadu is the largest circulated Telugu-language daily newspaper of India sold mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Oriental Daily News is a Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong. It was established in 1969 by Ma Sik-yu and Ma Sik-chun, and was one of the two newspapers published by the Oriental Press Group Limited. Relative to other Hong Kong newspapers, Oriental Daily News has an older readership.
Aamulehti is a Finnish-language daily newspaper published in Tampere, Finland. Established in 1881 by Finnish patriots in Tampere, the newspaper aimed to bolster the Finnish language and people's identity during Russia's reign over Finland. Throughout the Cold War, Aamulehti was accused by the Soviet Union of spreading US propaganda, leading to protests from the Soviet Embassy in Helsinki. In the 1980s, the newspaper's parent company acquired and later closed down Uusi Suomi. In 2014, Aamulehti transitioned from broadsheet to tabloid format.
Malayala Manorama is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew, it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has a readership of over 8 million. It is also the second oldest Malayalam newspaper in Kerala in circulation, after Deepika, which is also published from Kottayam. Manorama also publishes an online edition.
Turun Sanomat is the leading regional newspaper of the region of Southwest Finland. It is published in the region's capital, Turku and the third most widely read morning newspaper in Finland after Helsingin Sanomat and Aamulehti.
La Gazzetta dello Sport is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy.
Kompas is an Indonesian national newspaper from Jakarta which was founded on 28 June 1965. The paper is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is a part of Kompas Gramedia Group. Its head office is located at the Kompas Multimedia Towers, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta. The paper is considered Indonesia's newspaper of record.
The Borneo Post, established in 1978, is the largest and widely circulated English-language daily newspaper in East Malaysia and also the alternately circulated newspaper in Brunei. The newspaper is the first English newspaper in East Malaysia to use photo-composition for type-setting and printing was done in offset as against the old-fashioned letterpress.
The Cambridge News is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Milton base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 20,987, but by December 2016 this had fallen to around 13,000. In 2018, the circulation of the newspaper fell to 8,005 and by June 2023 the preceding 6-month average was 2,597.
Vanitha (transl. Woman) is an Indian magazine published fortnightly by the Malayala Manorama group. It is the largest magazine in India by circulation according to Audit Bureau of Circulations, with average qualifying sales of 687,915 copies. It continues to be the largest in circulation in 2017 as well.
The mass media in Brunei are strictly controlled by the government under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, which has effectively imposed martial law in the country since the Brunei Revolt of 1962. News coverage consists of police-beat reporting, lifestyle features, and community events, with little in the way of diverse viewpoints. Reporters Without Borders reports there is "virtually no criticism of the government". The liberal democracy watchdog Freedom House lists Brunei's media as "not free".
Die Son is a mixed Afrikaans-language South African tabloid reporting sensational news essentially after the model of British tabloids. It is the South African newspaper with the largest increase in readership in recent years. In the Western Cape province, it appears as a daily; in other provinces, it is a weekly paper. The editorial seat is in Cape Town.
The Herald-Mail is a newspaper serving the cities of Hagerstown, Maryland, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and Martinsburg, West Virginia and the surrounding counties.
Hindustan Dainik is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper. According to WAN-IFRA, it ranked 13th in the world by circulation in 2016 and per the Audit Bureau of Circulations was 6th in India in 2022. Madan Mohan Malaviya launched it in 1936. It is published by Hindustan Media Ventures Limited. Earlier it was part of HT Media Ltd group, which spun off its Hindi business into a separate company named Hindustan Media Ventures Limited in December 2009.
The Sunshine Coast Daily is an online newspaper specifically serving the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia. It is owned by News Corp Australia. It was originally founded as a print newspaper, however since 2020 the publication is only available in digital forms.
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports, art, and science. They often include materials such as opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords, editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns.
Keskisuomalainen is a daily Finnish language newspaper published in Jyväskylä, serving central Finland. Its parent company Keskisuomalainen Oyj owns nearly 80 newspapers.
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