Newspaper ABCs: Daily Mirror drops below print circulation of 200,000

The print circulation of the Daily Mirror dropped below 200,000 in February for the first time since the Edwardian era.

The Daily Mirror saw its print circulation decline to 196,150, a drop of 4.5% compared to January and of 16.4% since February 2024.

Sister title the Sunday Mirror was down 1.5% month on month and 17.3% year on year to 144,733.

The Daily Mirror’s cover price has more than doubled since 2010 to £1.70 per day, a tactic which has defended circulation revenue while at the same time possibly hastening decline.

After a reshuffle in our monthly ranking in January due to the Sunday Express falling below the Financial Times by print circulation, the titles are back in their previous positions.

The Sunday Express had a smaller month-on-month drop of 0.9% to 107,838 although it was down 16.8% year on year.

The Financial Times, which includes bulk copies in locations like airports and hotels and global print readership in its ABC figure, was down 2.8% month on month and 1.2% year on year to 106,871.

The biggest monthly drop was at the Daily Mail, down 5% to 652,866.

The smallest year-on-year drop among paid titles was at The i Paper, down 5.3% to 119,333.

The Mail titles also report their digital editions separately. The Daily Mail had 92,308 active views in February while the Mail on Sunday had 95,829.

National newspaper circulations in February 2025 (ABC) with monthly and yearly changes – this page will be updated monthly:

Read more: Widening gulf between weekday and Saturday UK newspaper sales revealed

The column for bulks refers to copies which are circulated for free at venues such as airports and hotels.

The above figures do not include the Sun, Times and Telegraph titles which have all chosen to keep their ABC circulations private since the start of 2020. The Guardian and Observer joined them in September 2021.

The last ABC figures we have for these titles are as follows:

• The Sun: 1,210,915 (March 2020)
• The Sun on Sunday: 1,013,777 (March 2020)
• The Sunday Times: 647,622 (March 2020)
• The Times: 365,880 (March 2020)
• Daily Telegraph: 317,817 (December 2019)
• Sunday Telegraph: 248,288 (December 2019)
• The Observer: 136,656 (July 2021)
• The Guardian: 105,134 (July 2021)

If these titles have fallen in line with rest of the industry their current circulations as of February 2025 would be as follows (these are ball-park estimates):

• The Sun: 630,000
• The Sun on Sunday: 540,000
• The Sunday Times: 290,000
• The Times: 160,000
• Daily Telegraph: 170,000
• Sunday Telegraph: 115,000
• The Observer: 75,000
• The Guardian: 55,000

2022 in focus

These charts show UK national newspaper circulation over the 12 months to March 2023.

2000-present

We have also charted the longer-term change in ABC circulation over the past 20 years across the UK press.

These charts show the extent of the print decline from The Sun reaching 3.76m in 2000 and the Sun on Sunday's launch in February 2012 with a short-lived 3.21m before dropping to just above 2m.

Meanwhile, though the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail once were competitive in print reach at around 2.3m-2.4m in 2000, the Mail now has a circulation three times the size of its former rival.

The Sunday tabloids all saw a spike in 2011 after the closure of the News of the World but few retained the readers – the Sunday People and Sunday Mirror did best at doing so, but largely lost them when the Sun on Sunday launched.

Continue reading for previous months' coverage of the UK's most popular newspapers:

January 2025

The Daily Mail's print circulation has increased month on month for the second month in a row.

The Daily Mail was read by an average of 687,063 people each day in January 2025, up 2% month on month to its highest ABC print circulation since May last year.

The paper's circulation was down 7% year on year.

Also up month on month was the Daily Express, where print circulation was up 1% to 128,551.

The i saw the smallest year-on-year drop among paid-for titles, down 3% to 122,487.

Also this month the Sunday Express saw its total print distribution fall below that of the Financial Times for the first time since ABC records are available (going back to 2000). Although these newspapers are not directly comparable, the change represents a reshuffling in the order of our monthly table.

The Sunday Express declined by 3% month on month and 17% year on year to 108,870.

The circulation of the Financial Times in January was 109,995, up 1% month on month and down 5% year on year. However 52% of the FT's ABC audited circulation is non-UK. In addition 28% of its circulation is from bulk copies (which are paid for but distributed free of charge to consumers in locations like airports and hotels).

Like-for-like, including only paid newsstand sales and subscriptions in the UK, the Sunday Express is still ahead on 108,772 to the FT's 21,720.

December 2024

The Daily Mail's print circulation was slightly bigger in December than the month before, according to the latest ABC figures.

The Daily Mail was bought by 673,578 people in December, 0.9% higher than in November.

The biggest month-on-month decline was at Reach's Scottish weekly tabloid the Sunday Mail, down 5% to 42,044.

On a year-on-year basis, The i Paper saw the smallest decline among paid-for papers (down 4% to 122,949) while the biggest drop was at the Daily Star Sunday (down 22.7% to 61,230) followed by The Sunday People (down 21.2% to 47,629).

Free paper Metro kept its print distribution steady at 952,104.

November 2024

The i and the Financial Times both marginally grew their print circulations in November compared to the prior month, according to the latest ABC figures.

The i was up by 0.4% (although down 3.8% year-on-year) to 123,675 while the FT was up 0.9% month-on-month to 109,892 and down just 0.3% year-on-year.

The FT's circulation segment with biggest growth was paid subscriptions, which were up 9.4% to 9,995. At the i, subscriptions were up 2.8% to 23,625.

Also in November the Sunday Express overtook the Daily Star. Both titles are owned by Reach but the daily has traditionally been the bigger title aside from the occasional month - the Sunday Express was last bigger in May 2023.

The Daily Star fell by 0.8% month-on-month and 16.1% year-on-year to a print circulation of 116,922 while the Sunday Express saw a slightly smaller decline of 0.1% and 14.5% to 116,922.

Despite ongoing print decline, the i and Financial Times both marginally grew their circulations compared to October.

The biggest year-on-year declines were at two Reach tabloids: the Sunday People down 19.3% to 49,695 and the Daily Star Sunday down 19% to 62,293.

October 2024

Reach-owned Scottish newspaper the Sunday Mail was the only paid-for title to see any minor circulation growth in October, according to the latest public ABC figures.

The Sunday Mail's average weekly circulation was up 0.5% month-on-month in October to 44,382.

However it still saw year-on-year decline of 16%, joining the rest of the Reach-owned national newspapers which all saw annual decline of 15-20%.

Of the rest of the publicly audited national newspapers, the Mail on Sunday saw the smallest month-on-month decline of -0.1% to 568,734 and the biggest was at Scottish title the Daily Record, down 1.6% to 46,128.

DMGT-owned newspapers Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and the i all kept their annual print circulation declines in single digits in October, as did the Financial Times.

The Daily Mail, with an average daily print circulation of 667,662 in October, and the Mail on Sunday both saw year-on-year drops of 8%.

The i was down 4% to 123,155 while the Financial Times saw a drop of 3% to 108,964 (of which 29% were bulk copies distributed for free in locations like airports and hotels).

September 2024

The circulation of the Financial Times was up 5% between August and September, the latest ABC figures show.

The FT had a circulation of 109,966, marking a drop of 2% compared to September 2023 - the smallest annual decline among the publicly audited national newspapers.

However the FT has the largest proportion of bulks (copies given away for free at locations like airports and hotels) which were on 31,491 or 29% of its total circulation, and non-UK copies which made up 52% of its ABC total (57,358 copies).

The next smallest annual circulation decline was at the i, down 4% to 124,075 of which 3% were bulk copies.

The biggest annual decline was at Reach tabloid the Sunday People, down 20% to an average of 50,394 weekly copies sold. The Daily Star Sunday (64,645) and Scottish title Sunday Mail (44,144) were both down 18%.

On a monthly basis, the FT was the only title to see growth although free papers Metro (951,154) and City AM (68,144) both stayed steady.

The biggest monthly drops were at the Daily Mirror (212,300), Daily Star Sunday and Sunday Mail, all down 4%.

August 2024

The Daily Star Sunday now has a smaller circulation than the free City AM for the first time since the business newspaper launched 19 years ago.

The average Daily Star Sunday weekly circulation fell by 2% month-on-month and 16% year-on-year in August to 66,994.

London-only title City AM stayed steady compared to July on 68,144 and grew by 5% compared to August last year, with an average of 68,144 on Mondays to Thursdays.

The majority of the paid-for newspapers in our monthly ABC circulation round-up saw a double-digit year-on-year drop in August, led by fellow Reach tabloid the Sunday People which was down 20% to 51,961.

The only paid-for newspaper not to fall on an annual basis was the Financial Times, which stayed steady on 104,826. Of these 31,324 are bulk copies (which are given away for free at locations like airports and hotels).

Compared to July, the Daily Record was narrowly the only paid-for title not to see a drop, staying steady on 48,472.

The Evening Standard began its transition away from being a daily newspaper at the end of July when it dropped its Monday and Friday editions. Nonetheless it dropped its distribution by only 1%, albeit 10% year-on-year, to 273,631.

July 2024

The Sunday People suffered the biggest decline in print circulation among the UK's national newspapers in July.

The weekly Reach tabloid's ABC circulation was down by 20% year-on-year and 2% month-on-month to 52,350.

The only national newspaper to see year-on-year growth in July was the Financial Times, which was up 2% to 108,070 despite seeing the joint biggest month-on-month decline of 2%.

Compared to last July, the FT's newsstand sales were down but paid subscriptions, bulk copies (which are given away for free at locations like airports and hotels) and non-UK copies were up.

Among the rest, the smallest annual decline was at the i, which was down 3% to 127,526. The i also had the biggest month-on-month growth, of 2%.

July marked the Evening Standard's final month printing five days a week as it phases out its daily edition ahead of going weekly. It dropped its Monday and Friday editions at the end of the month.

Across the month the Standard had an average print distribution of 276,885 - up 1% month-on-month but down 9% year-on-year.

June 2024

The average daily print circulation of the i is now higher than the Daily Star's for the first time in its history.

The change comes two months after the i's circulation was also higher than the Sunday Express for the first time as the DMGT-owned title's print readership has stayed relatively steady for several months.

In June the i reported an ABC print circulation of 125,545 - narrowly edging above the Daily Star on 125,525.

The i, which launched in October 2010, saw growth compared to May of 1% and and annual decline of 14%.

Meanwhile the Daily Star reported a month-on-month drop of 1% and year-on-year fall of 15%.

Pre-Covid, in the first half of March 2020, the Daily Star had an average circulation of 276,453 - at the time 28% higher than the i on 215,640.

The biggest circulation drops in June were at the Sunday People (20% down to 53,501), Daily Star Sunday (18% down to 68,003) and Sunday Mail (18% down to 46,794).

As well as the i, the Financial Times was the only paid-for newspaper to grow its circulation, up 2% month-on-month and steady year-on-year at 110,736. Although the FT's paid newsstand sales were up marginally (to 12,534) its subscription copies were down 1% (to 9,069).

Free London daily City AM upped its distribution year-on-year by 1% to 68,112 and stayed steady compared to May.

May 2024

The Evening Standard dropped its distribution by 12% in May compared to the previous year as it announced plans to end its daily publication and go weekly in print.

This was a 12% year-on-year drop for the second month running although its distribution stayed steady between April and May.

The Standard distributed an average of 275,683 copies per day in May, according to the latest ABC figures.

As recently as October 2022 the Standard was distributing more than 400,000 copies a day. It has been below 300,000 since October 2023.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic it was distributing around 800,000 copies per day.

Meanwhile, every paid-for national newspaper saw their print circulation decline in May - although it should be noted that the year-on-year comparison is affected by the boost several Sunday newspapers saw last year from the King's coronation.

Reach tabloid the Sunday People saw the biggest drop compared to May 2023, with its average circulation down by 24% to 54,150.

Also dropping by more than a fifth year-on-year were fellow Reach weeklies the Sunday Express (down 22% to 124,581) and Daily Star Sunday (down 21% to 69,200).

The only paid-for newspapers to fall by less than 10% year-on-year were the i (down 5% to 124,904) and Financial Times (down 1% to 108,824).

On a month-by-month basis, the Sunday Mail in Scotland was the only title to see growth compared to April, as its circulation was up 1% to 48,292.

The biggest month-on-month decline was of 4% at the Daily Mirror (to 225,983), Daily Record (to 49,673) and Sunday Post (to 34,581).

Free newspaper Metro kept its distribution steady both month-on-month and year-on-year while London free business newspaper City AM grew marginally year-on-year and stayed steady from April into May.

April 2024

The i's print circulation is now higher than the Sunday Express for the first time in its history, according to the latest ABC data.

In April the circulation of the i, which launched in 2010, stayed steady compared to the previous month and fell by 5% year-on-year to 126,266.

The Sunday Express fell by 2% month-on-month and 17% year-on-year to 125,990, resulting in it falling one place down our monthly table.

The biggest year-on-year print circulation decline was again at the Sunday People, down 21% to 55,526. The largest month-on-month drop was of 4% at the Daily Star Sunday, to 69,766.

The Financial Times was, as in March, the only paid-for newspaper not to see annual decline, staying steady compared to April last year. Its average circulation was 109,868 made up of 12,068 newsstand copies, 9,365 subscriptions, 31,155 bulk copies (distributed for free in locations like airports and hotels) and 57,280 copies in other countries.

Of the rest of the paid-for newspapers, the i was the only one to see single-digit decline. Its DMGT stablemates the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday each declined by 10% year-on-year to 699,240 and 586,187 respectively.

March 2024

The Mail on Sunday's average print circulation fell below 600,000 in March, according to ABC.

The Sunday newspaper's circulation fell by 1% compared to February and 10% versus March 2023, reaching 594,414.

The Mail on Sunday's circulation is now about half of where it was in October 2017 - six and a half years ago.

However, in that time there has been a notable shift in its circulation mix with subscriptions making up a greater slice of the pie: newsstand sales are down 5% to 524,545 but paid subscriptions are up 404% to 69,869.

Meanwhile in Scotland the Sunday Mail, owned by Reach, fell below a circulation of 50,000 - reaching 48,597 following a month-on-month decline of 3%. This is more than half of its pre-Covid circulation of 104,608.

Also in March, the Daily Star grew its average circulation by 3% month-on-month to 134,924 while the Daily Mirror (237,233) and Financial Times (109,181) were up 1%. Others were steady or down by up to 3%.

The ABC figures are average per issue, meaning they should not be skewed by the fact March was a longer month than February, with one extra weekend.

The biggest year-on-year decline was at the Sunday People, down 21% to 57,163, followed by the Sunday Mail and Sunday Post (35,848) each down 17%. The only paid-for title not to see decline was the Financial Times, which stayed steady compared to March last year.

The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday's digital editions stayed steady month-on-month, with active views per issue of 88,176 and 89,639 respectively.

February 2024

The Financial Times saw the biggest month-on-month drop in print circulation among the publicly audited national newspapers in February.

The FT had an average circulation of 108,125 in February according to ABC, down 6% compared to January - although it lost just 0.4% compared to a year earlier.

Subscriptions (9,255) were down 12% month-on-month to 9,255 while newsstand sales (12,227) were down 7% to 12,227 and global circulation (55,781) was down 8% to 55,781. But bulks (free copies distributed at locations like airports and hotels) were steady on 30,862.

The FT also had a digital edition circulation of 16,403, up 5% month-on-month.

The Daily Mail digital edition had average actively-viewed copies of 88,346 in February, up 1% month-on-month and 3% year-on-year.

The Mail on Sunday’s digital edition was on 90,062, up 1% and 2% respectively.

The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday are top of the table among the paid-for newspapers that have their ABC circulations published, with circulations of 705,311 and 600,311 respectively.

Their next rival in the public table, the Daily Mirror, is several hundred thousand behind on 234,492.

Reach tabloid the Sunday People again reported the biggest annual decline, down 22% to 57,670 - the only drop in this set of figures of more than a fifth. It was followed by sister title Daily Star Sunday, down 18% to 72,363.

Free London title City AM was the only newspaper to grow its distribution year-on-year in February, upping its print run by 1% to 68,009. Month-on-month it was up by the same percentage and was joined by fellow free title the Evening Standard, which had a circulation of 277,238. The Standard, however, was down 11% compared to the year before.

January 2024

The Sunday People was the only national newspaper to see a print circulation decline of more than a fifth in January 2024.

The Reach tabloid had an average weekly circulation of 58,831 in January - down 22% year-on-year and 3% month-on-month.

Sister Reach titles the Daily Star Sunday, Daily Star, Sunday Mail, Daily Record and Sunday Express all saw their circulations down by 15 to 17% year-on-year, as did DC Thomson's Sunday Post.

The only paid-for newspaper to stay steady year-on-year was the Financial Times, on 115,118. Its newsstand sales were down 14% but subscriptions were up 3%, bulk copies (those distributed in locations like hotels and airports) were up 1% and non-UK readership was up 4%.

The FT's actively purchased sales in the UK and Ireland averaged 24,000 with the rest of the circulation in Europe, Asia and the US.

The free Metro (953,856) and City AM (67,215) papers also kept their circulations about the same as in January 2023.

Month-on-month, the Daily Star Sunday saw the biggest decline of 8% to 73,103. The FT was up 1% as was free London paper the Evening Standard (277,238).

The Mail titles also report their digital edition readership numbers: the Daily Mail’s digital edition had an average circulation of 87,571 in January, up 1% month-on-month and 2% year-on-year. The Mail on Sunday's digital edition was up 2% month-on-month and 1% year-on-year to 89,326.

The FT published a digital edition figure of 15,594, down 6% year-on-year but up 12% month-on-month. This figure includes FT Premium and FT e-paper subscribers and customers through distributors Barnes and Noble, Media Carrier and Gold Key Media.

December 2023

December was a reasonable month for print circulation among the UK's national newspapers, with some experiencing monthly growth.

Scottish weekly the Sunday Mail saw the biggest growth compared to November, up 5% to 52,842, followed by the Financial Times (up 4% to 114,338), Daily Star Sunday (up 3% to 79,218) and the Daily Mail (up 2% to 733,577).

The Sunday Post and Daily Express also grew by up to 1% while the Daily Mirror and the i fell by less than 1%.

Decline continued across the board when compared to December 2022, however, but it was lower than usual at some titles.

Often several newspapers see their circulation fall by about a fifth year-on-year but in December the only newspaper down that much was the Sunday People (a fall of 19% to 60,470).

Behind that, the Daily Star (136,909) and Daily Record (54,379) were both down by 14%.

The smallest annual circulation decline was at the i, down 7% to 128,110.

The Telegraph, which no longer publishes its total circulation (see below), has revealed it had an average weekly subscription number of 1,035,710 in December, made up of 117,586 in print, 688,012 in digital, and 230,112 across Telegraph Wine Cellar, Telegraph Puzzles and Chelsea Magazine Company.

The Mail titles also report their digital edition readership numbers: the Daily Mail's digital edition had an average circulation of 86,744 in December (up 2% month-on-month and 5% year-on-year) while the Mail on Sunday was on 87,910 (up 1% and 3% respectively).

November 2023

The i was the only UK national newspaper to avoid month-on-month print circulation decline in November.

The DMGT-owned newspaper stayed steady, growing 0.1% compared to October to an average circulation of 128,566.

The i also saw the second-smallest year-on-year drop of 7.4%, behind only the Financial Times which fell by just 0.3% to 110,220.

[Read more: As digital subs overtake print at i, editor Oliver Duff explains why future is bright for title]

The FT's newsstand sales (12,822) and paid subscriptions (9,373) were both down but the newspaper increased its bulk copies given away at locations like airports and hotels (32,001) and global distribution (56,024).

Free London newspaper City AM also stayed steady both month-on-month and year-on-year, with an average distribution of 67,940.

The biggest month-on-month declines were at the Sunday Post (down 2.7% to 38,160), the Sunday Mirror (down 1.9% to 182,978), the Sunday Mail (down 1.9% to 52,104) and the FT (down 1.7%).

The biggest annual drops were at the Sunday People (down 20.3% to 61,570), the Sunday Post (down 18.1%) and Daily Star Sunday (down 17.4% to 76,868).

October 2023

The Financial Times saw the smallest change in its print circulation in October, according to the latest monthly analysis of UK national newspapers.

The business newspaper grew by 0.4% month-on-month and declined by 0.3% in October to an average daily circulation of 112,139.

This included a slight increase (2% month-on-month and 6% year-on-year) in bulk copies distributed for free at locations like airports and hotels. These made up 29% of the FT's circulation in October.

The i, where bulks make up 1% of its circulation, had the next smallest annual decline in October of 8% to 128,494.

No other paid-for UK national newspapers that continue to publicly report their circulation figures still distribute bulk newspapers.

The biggest year-on-year circulation declines among paid-for titles were at Reach tabloids with a 22% drop at the Sunday People to 62,143 and a 19% fall at the Daily Star Sunday to 78,051.

Free title the Evening Standard saw the biggest drop overall, with its distribution down 27% compared to October 2022 to 293,663. This is the first time its distribution has gone below 300,000 since October 2009 when it became a free newspaper.

September 2023

Many UK national newspapers reported steeper-than-usual annual print circulation declines in September due to comparisons with the previous year when the death of The Queen appeared to lead to an uptick in sales.

The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday both saw their circulation fall by 17% year-on-year in September - up from an average decline of mostly somewhere between 10% and 13% each month in the year so far.

The biggest year-on-year decline among paid-for nationals was at the Sunday People (down 24% to 62,712) followed by sister Reach title Daily Star Sunday (down 22% to 79,198).

Meanwhile the i, also owned by Mail publisher DMG Media, saw its average circulation fall below 130,000 in September to 129,133. Its earliest available ABC figures for January 2011, three months after its launch, show it was then on 133,472.

The Financial Times was the only newspaper to avoid a month-on-month circulation decline, growing by 7% to 111,738. It also reported the smallest drop compared to September last year, down 2%.

August 2023

Annual declines in print national newspaper circulations across the board continued in August.

The biggest year-on-year drops were at the Daily Star Sunday (down 22.4% to 80,124) and the Sunday People (down 21.8% to 64,605).

The smallest annual decline was at the Financial Times, down 1% to 104,423 – of which 30,616 were bulk copies given away at locations like airports and hotels.

London business newspaper City AM did increase its free distribution by three-quarters compared to last summer, with an average of 64,729 copies distributed each Monday to Thursday in its first month of ownership by online retailer THG. It fell by 4% month-on-month.

The Daily Record was marginally the only paid-for title not to see a month-on-month drop in circulation. All others fell by up to 2% compared to July.

July 2023

Every national newspaper saw a year-on-year print circulation decline in July, according to the latest ABC figures.

The smallest annual decline was at the Financial Times, which fell by 1% to 106,038. The biggest drop was at the Sunday People, with the Reach tabloid falling by 22% to 65,460, followed by sister title the Daily Star Sunday down 20% to 80,847.

Free London newspaper the Evening Standard saw the biggest drop to its distribution overall, down 24% to 302,602. Fellow free London title, City AM, did see growth, increasing its distribution by 81%, compared to a dip last summer, to 67,600.

The FT did, however, have the biggest month-on-month decline of 4%. Three titles grew their circulations by a fraction of a percent compared to June: the Mail on Sunday, the i and City AM.

June 2023

The Sunday Mirror's print newspaper circulation fell below 200,000 for the first time in June.

In January 2000, the earliest data available on the ABC website, the Sunday Mirror had a print circulation of two million. By January 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic began, the paper was on 367,244.

Also in June, the Sunday People, sister title to the Sunday Mirror, saw its sales move below the free distribution of London business newspaper City AM.

City AM fell by 15% year-on-year to 67,602, staying steady month-on-month compared to May, while the Sunday People fell by 21% and 6% respectively to 66,950.

The smallest year-on-year declines were at the i and the Financial Times, which both saw their circulations fall by 5% to 130,945 and 111,014 respectively.

The biggest declines were of the Evening Standard's free distribution (down 29% year-on-year to 308,874) and the Sunday People.

Month-on-month, the FT's circulation was up 1% compared to May while Metro and City AM both kept their free distributions steady. The biggest drops were at the Sunday Express and Mail on Sunday, both down 9% to 145,543 and 637,437 respectively.

May 2023

The Sunday Express rose above the Daily Star's print circulation in May as several Sunday newspapers saw a month-on-month boost, likely as a result of souvenir coverage of King Charles III's coronation.

Charles and Camilla officially became King and Queen on Saturday 6 May, with many Sunday titles producing souvenir editions with extra pages and wraparound front covers on the following day.

The Queen's death and funeral in September similarly led to a boost in audience both in print and online.

In May, the Mail on Sunday grew by 7% month-on-month, the Sunday Express was up 6%, the Sunday Mirror by 3%, the Sunday People by 2%, and the Daily Star Sunday by 1%. All continued to fall on a year-on-year basis, however, although by a lower percentage rate than the monthly reports frequently show.

At the Mail on Sunday, paid single copies grew by 7% to 622,360 and subscriptions rose by 8% to 75,585. However at the Sunday Express the boost primarily came from newsstand sales, which were up by 6% to 150,909, whereas subscriptions, on which the title relies less, were up by only 1% to 9,182.

The boost at the Sunday Express took it above the Daily Star's circulation for the first time since January 2021 and May 2020, both anomalous months. Before May 2020, the daily title had been higher in our ranking since December 2011.

April 2023

Print circulation decline continued across the board at the UK's national newspapers in April.

The biggest drop among paid-for nationals was at the Sunday People, down 22% to 69,990. London's free Evening Standard, however, saw a greater fall of 31% to 311,216.

The smallest decline was at the FT, which dropped 2% year-on-year to an average monthly circulation of 109,637. It is the only ABC-audited newspaper to distribute a significant number of bulk free copies at locations such as airports and hotels as part of its circulation, but these fell by 9% so the smaller decline cannot be attributed to that portion of its circulation.

The only newspapers to grow by 1% between March and April were the Daily Mirror and the free City AM. The biggest month-on-month drop was of 3% at the Sunday People.

March 2023

The i reported the smallest annual print circulation decline among the UK’s national newspapers in March, according to the latest ABC figures.

The i’s circulation was down 7% in March compared to a year before, reaching 131,825. It was the only annual decrease under 10%.

The biggest decline was at the Evening Standard, where its free distribution was down by 31% year-on-year to 310,236.

The biggest paid-for drop was at the Sunday People, down by 21% to 72,091 – the only newspaper with an annual decline of more than a fifth in March.

Every newspaper publicly audited by ABC saw their circulation between February and March change by a narrow margin of between -2% (Daily Star Sunday, Sunday People, Sunday Post) and 1% (Financial Times, Daily Star).

The highest circulation paid-for print newspaper remains the Daily Mail, on 777,586 (down 11% year-on-year and 1% month-on-month). Metro, distributed for free in 50 UK cities, was on 952,424 (down 11% and 0.4% respectively).

February 2023

The Evening Standard has dropped its distribution by almost a third in a year.

The newspaper reported an average distribution of 311,485 for February, meaning it is nearing its circulation from before it went free – its final ABC report as a paid-for newspaper was 256,229 in September 2009.

December was the only month since then that it has been lower, on 310,933, than February’s total. Pre-Covid in February 2020 it was distributing an average of 787,447 copies per day.

The biggest print circulation decline of the UK’s paid-for national newspapers in February was Reach tabloid the Sunday People, which fell by 23% to 73,875. Reach told staff in January the People would begin to share most content with the Sunday Mirror, which itself was down 18% to sales of 209,197.

Fellow Reach title the Daily Express was the only other title aside from the People to fall by more than a fifth, going down by 21% to 173,372.

The smallest annual declines were at the i, which was down 8% to 132,222, and the Financial Times, down 9% to 108,562.

However the FT reported the biggest month-on-month drop of 5%.

Metro and City AM both kept their free distributions steady compared to January, and while the Daily Star Sunday was the only paid-for newspaper to see no month-on-month decline the Daily Star and Sunday Mail each fell by less than 1%.

January 2023

The Daily Mail's print circulation fell below 800,000 for the first time in January, according to the latest ABC data.

The newspaper reported an average circulation of 797,704, a dip of 12% year-on-year or 2% month-on-month. The Sun, traditionally its rival for the top of the table, is among the newspapers that no longer make their print circulations public.

In March 2020, the last time it published its ABC total, The Sun was on a circulation of 1,210,915 versus 1,132,908 for the Mail. The Mail then overtook The Sun for the first time in 42 years in May that year with a circulation of 980,000 and continues to be the UK's best selling daily.

The only newspaper to report growth in January compared to the same month last year was the Financial Times, up by 1% to 114,685, although it also saw the biggest month-on-month decline of 11% due to a decrease in non-UK circulation, bulk copies distributed in locations such as airports and hotels, and newsstand sales.

The biggest year-on-year decline was at the free Evening Standard, which reduced its distribution by 30% to 314,285, followed by the paid-for Reach tabloid Sunday People, down 23% to 75,521.

The Daily Star Sunday, Daily Express, Sunday Post, Sunday Mirror, Sunday Mail and Sunday Express all saw their circulations decline year-on-year by 20%. However all except the Daily Star Sunday and Daily Express stayed steady or grew month-on-month. All are owned by Reach, except the Sunday Post which is owned by DC Thomson.

The biggest month-on-month growth was at City AM, which stopped putting out newspapers on Fridays in January due to low commuter numbers on that day. Editor Andy Silvester said at the time that distribution on Mondays to Thursdays had almost reached pre-pandemic levels.

December 2022

Free newspapers Evening Standard and City AM suffered the biggest drops in their print distribution in December compared to the previous year.

The titles appeared to be distributing fewer copies as publishers suffer rising paper and energy costs amid continued changes to working patterns that see fewer commuters on Mondays and Fridays in particular. Subsequent to these figures, in January City AM has dropped its Friday print edition - but its editor Andy Silvester said the paper was "thriving" on the other four days of the working week.

The Evening Standard's distribution in December was down by 30% year-on-year to 310,933 - its lowest since before it went free in October 2009.

Meanwhile City AM was down 25% to 58,664 and also saw the biggest month-on-month decline, down 14% from November.

Fellow free newspaper Metro also dropped its print distribution, but by a much lesser margin: in December it was down 6% year-on-year and 1% month-on-month to 965,960.

Among the paid-for newspapers whose circulations are published by ABC, several Sunday titles published by Reach all lost more than a fifth of their circulations year-on-year: the Sunday People was down 24% to 74,601, the Daily Star Sunday was down 23% to 88,434, the Sunday Mirror was down 21% to 208,794 and the Sunday Express was also down 21% to 153,377. DC Thomson's Sunday Post in Scotland was also down 22% to 44,038.

These five titles, plus the Sunday Mail in Scotland, also posted the largest paid-for circulation declines month-on-month ranging between 6% and 3% down from November.

The smallest annual decline was at the i (down 5% to 137,039) followed by the Financial Times (down 8% to 128,794).

Two newspapers posted month-on-month growth: the Financial Times (up 17%) and the Daily Mail (up 2% to 812,106 - stopping it from dropping below 800,000 for the first time).

November 2022

Print decline across the board continued among the UK's national newspapers in November.

The smallest drop was at the i, which saw its print circulation decline by 3% year-on-year to 138,782.

The biggest was at the free Evening Standard, which dropped its distribution by 27% to 319,485. Among paid newspapers, it was Reach tabloid the Sunday People, down to to 77,300 - a 23% drop compared to November 2021.

The only newspaper not to report decline month-on-month was the Sunday Post in Scotland, which grew by 88 copies, or 0.2%, on average.

The Daily Mail remains the biggest paid-for print newspaper of those that publicly release their ABC circulations, staying just above 800,000. The free title Metro had an average distribution of 977,077 in November.

October 2022

No UK national newspapers saw print circulation growth, whether year-on-year or month-on-month, in October.

The latest ABC figures show the smallest declines among paid-for newspapers were at the i (down 3% year-on-year to 140,196 – the only single-figure annual decline) and the Financial Times (down 1% month-on-month to 112,478).

Many national newspapers saw month-on-month growth in September, likely down to appetite for souvenir editions following the death of the Queen.

The biggest drops between September and October, possibly indicating the newspapers with the biggest boost from the national mourning period, were at the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Daily Express, which all fell by 8% month-on-month.

The biggest annual declines were at DC Thomson’s Sunday Post in Scotland and Reach tabloid the Sunday People, down 22% and 21% respectively.

The Daily Express, FT, Sunday Mail and Daily Star Sunday all saw year-on-year falls of 19%.

September 2022

A strong appetite for print newspapers and souvenir editions following the death of the Queen appears to have led to month-on-month circulation growth almost across the board at the UK's national newspapers.

But the uplift was not high enough for most to report annual growth.

Of the eight publicly audited paid-for titles that saw month-on-month growth - the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Daily Express, Sunday Express, i and Financial Times - there was an average uplift of 4%. This growth was the same when factoring in the free distributions of Metro and the Evening Standard.

Including every newspaper in our ABC table, excluding City AM which appears to be an anomaly with its free distribution boosted by 37% following a severe slump, there was average month-on-month change of 2%.

The biggest month-on-month change was at the Financial Times, up by 8% to 113,992, followed by the Mail on Sunday (749,960) and i (147,609) which both grew by 5%.

However, annual decline continued at every newspaper except the Financial Times and the i. Although both are the only newspapers that still put bulk copies into locations like airports and hotels, making up 27% of the FT's circulation and 4% at the i, more of their annual growth was down to newsstand sales than this strategy.

The i was in fact at its highest level since December 2020, when it had a circulation of 148,927.

The biggest annual declines were at the Sunday People (down 20% to 82,275) and Sunday Post (down 19% to 48,938).

Scroll down or click here for new graphs charting the ups and downs of the UK national press in the past 20 years.

August 2022

The Financial Times saw marginal year-on-year growth in circulation in August, with every other newspaper continuing to decline.

The FT had a circulation of 105,748 in August compared to 105,213 the year before. Its newsstand sales and non-UK circulation grew although paid subscriptions and bulks (copies distributed for free at locations such as airports and hotels) were down.

Month-on-month, the only newspapers to see growth were the Daily Star Sunday, up 2% to 103,200 and the Scottish title Daily Record which was up by 1% to 69,316. Both are owned by Reach.

The Evening Standard also upped its free distribution, although by less than 1%. Its print readership in July was its lowest since before it went free in October 2009, with August the second lowest. Its year-on-year decline of 19% was one of the biggest in our table.

Fellow London free title City AM is also at its lowest distribution (36,640) since its 2005 launch. Its print edition was paused for 18 months during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Reach-owned Sunday People's circulation was down the most, by 22% to 82,597, with DC Thomson's Sunday Post down by 20% to 48,943.

July 2022

Every publicly audited UK national newspaper recorded a year-on-year decline in circulation in July.

Even the Financial Times, which has seen year-on-year growth every month since July 2021, was down by a few hundred copies compared to the year before. This was the smallest annual decline among the audited newspapers.

The Metro distributed less than one million copies for the first time since May 2021, when it trumpeted making it back over that milestone following the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The biggest year-on-year decline was a drop of 22% at the Sunday People.

Month-on-month, however, there was growth of 2% at the i largely down to an increase in paid subscriptions.

The biggest decline from June to July was at City AM, where free distribution more than halved to 37,369.

June 2022

Every publicly ABC audited UK national newspaper saw circulation decline from May to June with the exception of the i which saw growth of 0.2%.

Compared to June 2021, the Financial Times was the only paid-for newspaper to report growth, of 8% to 116,498.

Since the Covid-19 lockdowns ended the FT's circulation increases have largely been put down to the return of the distribution of free bulk copies at locations like airports and hotels. But in June a 17% year-on-year increase in bulk copies to 35,094 was also accompanied by 9% growth in paid newsstand sales to 15,612 (alongside a 4% decline in subscriptions to 9,076).

The smallest (4%) annual decline was at the i, which had a circulation of 137,964 and is the only other paid-for newspaper to still be shored up with free bulk copies - although they only account for 4% of its current total.

The biggest month-on-month decline was at the Sunday Mail in Scotland (down 5% to 66,469) while the biggest annual drop was at the Sunday People (down 23% to 85,212). Both are owned by Reach.

The free Metro was the only national newspaper other than the FT to grow year-on-year (by 3%) as it has upped its distribution this year compared to the Covid-hit 2020 and 2021.

May 2022

The Metro and Financial Times were the only national newspapers to grow their print readerships from last May to this year.

Metro had an average free distribution of 1,074,594 in May, staying steady month-on-month but growing by 17% since last year due to putting out more copies as people have returned to offices and public transport since the final Covid-19 lockdown.

The only paid-for newspapers to grow their circulations month-on-month in May were the Financial Times,