Newspapers have been widely distributed in the United Kingdom for hundreds of years. Sales rose during the 1800s and continued to do so until the middle of the 20th century, when they reached their peak circulation, however since then their readership has significantly declined. Today, the UK's most highly circulating paper is the free sheet Metro whilst other popular titles include tabloids such as The Sun and Daily Mirror, middle market papers such as the Daily Mail and Daily Express and broadsheet newspapers such as The Times, The Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times and The Guardian.
History
At the start of the 19th century, the highest-circulation newspaper in the United Kingdom was the Morning Post, which sold around 4,000 copies per day, twice the sales of its nearest rival. As production methods improved, print runs increased and newspapers were sold at lower prices. By 1828, the Morning Herald was selling the most copies, but it was soon overtaken by The Times.
Pubs would typically take in one or two papers for their customers to read, and through this method, by the 1850s the newspaper of the licensed trade, the Morning Advertiser, had the second highest circulation. Sales of The Times were around 40,000,John B. Thomson, Ideology and Modern Culture and it had around 80% of the entire daily newspaper market,Robert L. Bishop, "The Decline of National Newspapers in the UK", International Communication Gazette 1983: 31, p.206 but Sunday papers were more popular, some boasting sales of more than 100,000. Later in the century, the Daily News came to prominence, selling 150,000 copies a day in the 1870s, while by 1890, The Daily Telegraph had a circulation of 300,000. Sunday newspaper sales also grew rapidly, with Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper being the first to sell one million copies an issue. The press was changed by the introduction of halfpenny papers. The first national halfpenny paper was the Daily Mail (followed by the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror), which became the first weekday paper to sell one million copies around 1911. Circulation continued to increase, reaching a peak in the mid-1950s; sales of the News of the World reached a peak of more than eight million in 1950.
Since the 1950s, there has been a gradual decline in newspaper sales. The availability of multimedia news platforms has accelerated this decline in the 21st century, and by the close of 2014, no UK daily or Sunday newspaper had a circulation exceeding two million."UK newspaper readership falls twice as fast as circulation", 28 August 2014 The overall circulation of newspapers declined by 6.6% in 2014–15.http://www.mediareform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Who_owns_the_UK_media-report_plus_appendix.pdf In February 2018 The Sun'''s 40-year dominance at the top of the circulation charts was eclipsed by the free Metro newspaper for the first time. In May 2020 the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which records and audits sales, stated that monthly publication of circulation figures would no longer be automatic, as publishers were concerned that they had become a "negative narrative of decline". The first newspapers to decline to publish circulation figures were The Telegraph, The Sun and The Times.
Daily newspapers
2020 to present Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. In the 2020s, several newspapers stopped reporting circulation figures.
Title202520242023 2022 2021 2020MetroN/AN/A953,475Daily Mail687,063735,857797,704Evening StandardN/AN/A314,285Daily Mirror205,332240,799277,550Daily Express128,551152,699176,264Daily Star111,082132,979157,612i122,487126,308134,277Financial Times109,995115,118114,685City A.M.68,053N/A67,090N/ADaily Record44,20752,97861,883The GuardianN/AN/AN/AN/AThe SunN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AThe TimesN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AThe Daily TelegraphN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A360,345
2010–2019 Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Title 2019Freddy Mayhew, "National newspaper ABCs: Mail titles see slower year-on-year circulation decline as bulk sales distortion ends", Press Gazette, 14 February 2019 2018"National newspaper print ABCs: Daily Star overtakes Daily Telegraph for first time in over a year + full figures for Jan", Press Gazette, 15 February 2018 2017"National newspaper print ABCs for Jan 2017: Observer up year on year, The Sun is fastest riser month on month", Press Gazette, 16 February 2017 2016"National press print ABCs for January: Mirror losing ground against cut-price Star ahead of new launch", Press Gazette, 18 February 2016 2015"ABCs: National daily newspaper circulation January 2015", Press Gazette, 06 February 2015 2014"ABCs: National daily newspaper circulation January 2014", The Guardian, 14 February 2014 2013"UK national newspaper sales: Relatively strong performances from Sun and Mirror", Press Gazette, 8 February 2013 2012"First official figures give The Sun Sunday 3.2m circ ", Press Gazette, 9 March 2012 2011Oliver Luft, "ABC: i debuts with daily circulation of 133,472 in January ", Press Gazette, 11 February 2011 2010"ABCs: Sun back over 3m but Star is only climber", Press Gazette, 12 February 2010Oliver Luft, "ABC: Telegraph drops below 700,000", Press Gazette, 12 February 2010MetroThe SunDaily MailEvening Standard"Regional Publications Certificate of Circulation: London Evening Standard: January 2015", Audit Bureau of Circulations "Regional Publications Certificate of Circulation: London Evening Standard: January 2014", Audit Bureau of Circulations "Regional Publications Certificate of Circulation: London Evening Standard: January 2013", Audit Bureau of Circulations "Regional Publications Certificate of Circulation: London Evening Standard: January 2012", Audit Bureau of Circulations "London Evening Standard Certificate of Circulation", Audit Bureau of CirculationsDaily Paid & Free, Newspaper SocietyDaily MirrorThe TimesThe Daily TelegraphDaily StarDaily ExpressiFinancial TimesThe GuardianDaily RecordCity A.M.The Independent
2000–2009 Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Only newspapers with circulations of more than 100,000 copies per day in January 2009 are listed. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Title 2009Paul McNally, "January ABCs: Daily Star is lone riser after price cut", Press Gazette, 6 February 2009Oliver Luft, "ABC bulks probe: National sales figures revised ", Press Gazette, 14 August 2009 2008"January ABCs: Sun sales back above three million", Press Gazette, 8 February 2008 2007"Multi Platform Monthly Report: January 2008", Audit Bureau of Circulations 2006Dominic Ponsford, "January ABCs: Observer up 21 per cent following relaunch to 542,000 sales", Press Gazette, 17 February 200620052004"National daily newspaper circulations: January 2004", Media Guardian2003"National daily newspaper circulations: January 2003", Media Guardian, 12 February 20032002"National daily newspaper circulations: January 2002", Media Guardian, 11 February 2002 2001 2000The SunDaily MailDaily MirrorThe Daily TelegraphDaily StarDaily ExpressThe TimesFinancial TimesThe GuardianDaily RecordOwen Amos, "January ABCs: Scotland's best performance is 9.3% fall", Press Gazette, 6 February 2009Evening StandardDominic Ponsford, "January ABCs: Standard losing sales at rate of 14.5%", Press Gazette, 6 February 2009The Independent
1950–1999 Figures shown are average circulations for each year. Figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Title1997John Frain, Introduction to Marketing, p.3721992Ivor Crewe, Brian Gosschalk, Political Communications, p.1721987Justin Fisher, D. T. Denver and John Benyon, Central Debates in British Politics, p.1971980United Newspapers PLC and Fleet Holdings PLC, Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1985), pp.5–161976196619611956Tony Shaw, Eden, Suez and the Mass Media, p.197The SunDaily MirrorCrewe and Gosschalk give a figure of 3,660,756 for the Mirror and Record combined. This is an approximate figure found by subtracting the Record circulation given by Seawright and rounding to the nearest 100,000.Daily MailDaily ExpressThe Daily TelegraphThe TimesDaily StarDaily RecordDavid Seawright, An Important Matter of Principle, p.183The GuardianFinancial TimesThe IndependentTodayAndreas H. Jucker, Social Stylistics, p.47Daily HeraldDaily SketchDaily WorkerNews Chronicle
Before 1950 Figures shown are average circulations for each year. Figures from after 1931 originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations;those from 1852 and 1838 originate from stamp duty returns. Those from 1910, 1921 and 1930 are the most uncertain and rely on information originating from T. B. Browne's Advertiser's ABC''.
Title19471939James Curran et al., Impacts and Influences, p.29193019211910British Political Facts 1900-1968, p.2841863Samuel Rhoads and Enoch Lewis, Friends' Review, p.6031852William Turner Coggeshall, The Newspaper Record, pp.87–89. Figures for newspapers published outside London are calculated from annual sales assuming 312 issues per year.1838The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, pp.195Daily ExpressDaily MirrorDaily HeraldDaily MailNews ChronicleThe Daily TelegraphDaily SketchThe TimesManchester GuardianDaily WorkerFinancial TimesMorning AdvertiserViscount Camrose, British Newspapers and their ControllersDaily ChronicleDaily NewsMorning PostMorning StarMorning HeraldNorth British Daily AdvertiserMorning Chronicle
Sunday newspapers
2020 to present Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Only newspapers with circulations of more than 50,000 copies in January 2020 are listed. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. In the 2020s, several newspapers stopped reporting circulation figures.
Title202220212020The Mail on SundaySunday MirrorSunday ExpressDaily Star SundayThe Sunday PeopleSunday MailSunday PostThe ObserverN/AThe Sun on SundayN/AN/AThe Sunday TimesN/AN/AThe Sunday TelegraphN/AN/A
2010–2019 Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Only newspapers with circulations of more than 100,000 copies in January 2010 are listed. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Title201920182017201620152014"ABCs: National Sunday newspaper circulation January 2014", The Guardian, 14 February 20142013201220112010The Sun on SundayThe Mail on SundayThe Sunday TimesSunday MirrorSunday ExpressThe Sunday TelegraphDaily Star SundayThe ObserverThe Sunday PeopleSunday MailSunday PostTBAIndependent on SundayNews of the World
2000–2009 Figures shown are average circulations for January of each year. Only newspapers with circulations of more than 100,000 copies in January 2009 are listed. Regardless of immediate source, all figures originate from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Title2009Owen Amos, "January ABCs: Sindy slumps 25% with drops all round", Press Gazette, 6 February 200920082007200620052004"National Sunday newspaper circulations: January 2004", Media Guardian2003"National Sunday newspaper circulation January 2003", Media Guardian, 12 February 20032002"National newspaper circulation: Sundays: January 2002", Media Guardian, 11 February 200220012000News of the WorldThe Mail on SundaySunday MirrorThe Sunday TimesSunday ExpressThe Sunday TelegraphThe PeopleDaily Star SundaySunday MailThe ObserverSunday PostSunday Post, Audit Bureau of Circulations. Note that circulation figures for the Sunday Post before October 2006 were given biannually; the figure given is that for the first half of the year in each case.Independent on SundaySunday Business"National Sunday newspaper circulation January 2005, Media Guardian
20th century