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ABC analysis: Daily Mail overtakes the Sun on Sunday, while the Guardian is the only title to see growth in December

By Fiona Booth

January 20, 2014 | 2 min read

According to the latest ABC figures, national newspaper sales in December fell by 2.4 per cent compared to November, with the Guardian the only title to post circulation growth month on month. The longer term decline is a familiarly steeper story, with average sales of all national newspapers in December down 7.9 per cent compared to the same time last year, with circulation losses affecting all titles except the i.

Whilst the top three selling titles in the UK remained the same, there was a bit of a reshuffle on the winner’s podium. The Sun was again the biggest selling national newspaper in December with an average net circulation of 2,043,810. However, sister title the Sun on Sunday shed the most sales in December, both in terms of physical copies as well as percentage sales, enough of a drop to allow the Daily Mail to finally reclaim the number two spot. The mid-market title’s average circulation in December was 1,740,960 compared to the red top’s 1,669,036 - a far cry from the Sun on Sunday’s market topping launch circulation of 3.2m.The Independent continues to bring up the rear, with average net circulation in December of 67,266. The daily market continues to outperform the Sunday. Both markets in December were down on November at 1.7 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively, and down even further on the same time last year at 7.0 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively.
By sector, the quality titles fared best in December, down 1.6 per cent on November and 5.0 per cent on last December, thanks to having the only two titles in the entire market to post circulation growth in the short and long term. The mid-market titles weren’t too far behind, down 1.7 per cent on last month and 6.3 per cent on last year. However, the populars saw steeper declines by far, with circulation in December down 3.1 per cent compared to November and 10.2 per cent compared to the same time last year. This was helped in no small part by both the Sun and the Sun on Sunday losing over 200,000 sales year on year.All figures sourced from ABC. Analysis provided by Fiona Booth, account director, Insight at Carat.

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