ABC's Scotland - July sales down, bucking the UK trend
Overview by Fiona Booth – Account Director, Insight
Total sales of national newspapers in Scotland for July bucked the wider UK trend by falling month on month, down 1.1%* on June according to latest circulation figures released by ABC. Longer term, the Scottish market fell more steeply than the UK as a whole, with newspaper sales north of the Border down 10.0% compared to the same time last year.
The Sun continues to be the biggest selling national title in Scotland as well as in the UK, holding on to the top spot with an average net circulation in July of 260,528 north of the border. The Sunday Mail held tight to the second spot with average monthly sales of 253,832, with sister title the Daily Record in third place on 223,762. These titles continue to be the only three to sell over 200k copies daily in Scotland.
The Sun Sunday added the most copies compared to last month, with an average uplift of 1,090. The Sunday Express saw the biggest proportional increase, with sales in July up 3% on June. The Daily Mail, however, mirrored its UK performance by shedding the most copies month on month, both in actual sales (down almost 7k) as well as proportional (down 6.7%). The i was the greatest annual growth north of the Border as it did for the UK as a whole, up 1.7k copies and 10.1% on last July. The only other title to see any growth long term in Scotland was The Times, up 0.6% year on year.
All figures sourced from ABC
* Please note The Herald/ Sunday Herald and Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday are now only releasing six monthly figures and are therefore not included in this analysis.