The Irish News was the best performing regional daily newspaper across the UK, new industry figures reveal.
We now sell an average of 24,448 copies every day across the north, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), the body which independently verifies and reports on media performance.
Its latest list of audited regional daily newspapers, covering July to December last year, showed that all UK titles reported a decline in sales compared to the same period in 2020, though circulation at The Irish News decreased at a much lesser rate than every other publication.
The Irish News held up best over the period by recording just a 4 per cent drop.
Sales of The Scotsman, Ipswich Star, East Anglian Daily Times, Belfast News Letter and Aberdeen Press & Journal also declined by only single-digit figures.
Apart from The Irish News, just two more titles – the Aberdeen Press & Journal and Dundee Courier – now have print circulations above the 20,000 mark, with The Irish News the second highest.
As well as 24,448 print sales, The Irish News also reported 3,282 daily digital sales.
The News Letter’s daily circulation has fallen to 8,421, while the Belfast Telegraph is among a number of UK titles which have chosen not to have their paper sales officially audited by the ABC.
Irish News sales equate to just shy of 147,000 print copies every week and close to 7.8 million in a year.
Most recent figures from the Target Group Index (TGI) survey also showed that The Irish News was the only newspaper in Northern Ireland to increase readership.
The paper has an average daily readership of 150,000 and accounts for a 10 per cent market share of all newspapers in Northern Ireland.
Irish News group marketing and communications manager Annette Small said: “We’re delighted The Irish News has still managed to maintain its position as the best performing daily title in both the overall Irish market, north and south, and the UK regional sector.”
She added: “I’m hugely grateful for the support of our readers, and the performance of our staff also deserves the highest praise.”
The UK's top five-selling regional daily newspapers in July-December 2021 (based on fully-paid sales) are:
:: Aberdeen Press & Journal - 27,632
:: Irish News - 24,448
:: Dundee Courier - 20,045
:: Norwich Eastern Daily Press - 17,585
:: Liverpool Echo - 17,480
