The circulation of UK consumer magazines continued to decline in 2023, falling 12.4% when compared with the same ABC data for 2022.

The combined average monthly circulations of the magazines audited by ABC stood at 26.8 million in 2021, 24 million in 2022 and 21 million in 2023.

[Click here for 2022’s magazine ABCs]

However, more publications saw growth in 2023 than in 2022. In 2022 only 31 print or digital magazines saw circulations rise, compared with 53 in 2023.

Last year saw a huge increase in titles registering paid-for circulation via “all you can read” bundle subscription services such as Readly (see full breakdown of digital magazine ABC figures for 2023).

Two titles also opted into ABC auditing in 2023: Asda Magazine and the Jewish Chronicle.

Some publications report their circulation figures to ABC at the end of each half, rather than each year. In those cases Press Gazette has averaged the circulation figures provided for each half when including them in the charts below.

With an average print circulation of one million per month, Asda Magazine enters the chart as the second highest distribution of any UK mag – behind only Tesco Magazine, another free supermarket publication.

The most-circulated paid publication was the digital edition of The Economist, which distributed an average of 991,887 copies per month globally. Notably, that represents a 2.4% decline on last year, when its digital circulation was above one million.

Several BBC-branded magazines saw growth in the year, including BBC Top Gear Magazine (up 37%), BBC Sky at Night (up 44%), BBC Wildlife (up 70%) and BBC Science Focus, the average monthly circulation of which grew 88% to 132,360. (None of those magazines are run by the BBC itself.)

The Economist’s Espresso daily digital edition also grew notably, up 74% on the second half of 2022 to 21,775 in the same period in 2023. Espresso is one of the titles that reports its circulation to ABC twice a year: its average circulation across the whole of 2023 was 19,059.

Reach’s OK! and New! magazines meanwhile were among the biggest fallers in the year, both shedding more than a quarter of their circulation.

Other faster-than-average declines came at the New Scientist‘s digital edition (down 14% to 30,483), The Week‘s print edition (down 14.6% to 102,463) and Harper’s Bazaar (down 16.7% to 66,607).

Sajeeda Merali, the chief executive of the Professional Publishers Association (PPA), responded to the results with a blog post titled “Reasons to be cheerful: a sector defined by confidence, optimism and opportunity”, in which she argued that subscriptions, events and digital growth offer the way forward for publishers as print circulations dwindle.

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Most UK news and current affairs magazine titles, including Private Eye, saw steep year-on-year circulation declines in 2023 according to the latest figures from auditor ABC.

Private Eye remains the best-selling news magazine in the UK with an average of 231,315 sales per fortnight, but this figure was down 6% year on year.

The Economist’s cut-price Espresso daily digital edition was the fastest growing title, up 73.6% year on year to 21,775 (however only 3,859 of this total was in the UK).

BBC History magazine was the next fastest-growing title, up 37% year on year to 76,001 sales per edition, helped by an average of 6,104 sales via bundled all-you-can-read magazine services such as Readly.

The Economist‘s print edition fell 12.3% to 485,787 and its digital edition was down 2.3% to 966,947.

Most of The Economist’s sales are outside the UK. It has 541,676 digital edition sales in North America and 149,394 in the UK. The print edition sells 283,282 copies in North America and 79,136 in the UK.

Most titles saw circulation declines in the double-digits, representing a reversal of fortunes for a sector which has previously been robust. Last year for example Private Eye grew its sales year on year.

The Spectator put in a robust performance in 2023, with sales flat year on year at 96,570.

Magazine cover prices have been driven up by rising newsprint costs and sales have been impacted by the economic downturn and cost of living crisis.

Earlier this month Emap sold two titles citing “an increasingly challenging consumer newstrade market”.

The table below shows actively-purchased sales of UK news and current affairs magazines. In most cases digital editions are separately audited by ABC, but where no digital edition is broken out these sales feature in the combined total (eg. The Oldie and BBC History). Sales quoted are global. We have included a separate column for bundled “all you can read” sales via services such as Readly.

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Digital sales of UK magazines rose 15.4% year on year to an average of 2.6 million per edition, according to Press Gazette research based the latest ABC figures.

Some 147 titles published digital edition ABC figures for 2023. This data includes paywalled apps like The Economist and PDF-style digital versions of print titles.

The Economist remains the biggest title overall with global digital edition sales of 966,947 (down 2.3% year on year). However it should be noted this figure includes print subscribers who get the digital edition added on as there is no option to subscribe just to the print edition of The Economist. According to The Economist’s annual report, it has 697,000 digital-only subscribers, which puts it 13th on Press Gazette’s ranking of the top paywalled newsbrands globally.

Digital edition sales appear to have been significantly inflated by “all you can read” sales – i.e. readers purchasing access to titles via third-party bundled magazine offerings such as Readly.

BBC Science Focus magazine boasts 105,456 all you can read subscriptions out of its 107,646 digital sales total. Car magazine has 57,725 all you can read sales out of 60,201, and for Grazia 47,031 out of 48,238 digital edition sales are all you can read.

Overall, these all you can read sales account for 1.2 million of the total 2.6 million average digital circulation per edition, up from 860,000 last year, and so appear to collectively account for the market growth.

Publishers are not paid a full subscription price for these sales but instead get a royalty fee based on a Spotify-style model (likely to be a small fraction of the subscription price).

Readly charges £9.99 per month for access to more than 7,000 magazines and newspapers, giving publishers a share of that revenue dependent on the number of times their content is accessed. There are a number of these Spotify-style services for magazines, but ABC does not specify which platform is being used.

Not all titles are available via Spotify-style subscriptions to multiple titles. The Economist, for example, does not have any “all you can read” sales.

Seven titles which formerly published digital editions are no longer audited by ABC including Sight and Sound and Real Homes. See table below for full details of UK magazine industry digital edition sales in 2023. Note: Not all magazines are audited by ABC.

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Digital consumer magazines saw a circulation increase of 22% in 2022, according to new ABC data.

The combined average circulation of titles reporting digital data separately to ABC increased from 2.5 million in 2021 to 3.1 million in 2022.

Three-quarters (75%) of 2022 digital copies were actively purchased – i.e. excluding free, membership and multiple copies.

In the UK and Irish digital markets, circulation was up 45% from 1.1 million in 2021 to 1.6 million last year.

• Full breakdown of print and digital magazine ABCs for 2022
• Magazine ABCs 2022: Private Eye leads UK news mags with best sales since 2017
• Magazine ABCs 2022: Slimming World only women’s interest title to see print growth

Titles can choose to audit their digital and print editions separately or provide ABC with a combined print and digital number. This analysis includes only titles that report digital data separately. Where there is a separate digital ABC certificate the figures are not de-duped (meaning they include bundled subscriptions where readers have more than one format included in the price).

Of the 138 titles that reported global digital data to ABC in both 2021 and 2022, 46 saw their circulation increase year-on-year, two remained unchanged, while 90 recorded a fall.

The overall increase in digital circulation in 2022 was driven by first time reports in 2022 for 13 titles as well as big growth for some names. Among titles reporting in 2022 for the first time was The Economist’s relaunched daily briefing app Espresso (12,546 global digital sales) and beauty brand Look Fantastic’s digital title The Highlight (146,599).

Among the biggest year-on-year growers were Immediate Media’s BBC Science Focus, which increased digital circulation 131% from 17,686 to 40,892, and Bauer’s Car magazine which grew by 56% from 21,317 to 33,222.

At the other end, titles with the biggest digital falls included Hearst-owned Women’s Health (down 34% to 15,188), Runner’s World (down 30% to 7,381) and Real Homes (down 23% to 10,476).

While most magazines report data once a year for the full calendar year, for titles that report more than once per year we have taken their latest ABC report and made like-for-like comparisons with the same period in 2021.

Overall, the biggest title by digital circulation size by a large margin in 2022 was the Economist which topped the one million mark to sell 1,012,592 digital editions globally (a 2% increase year-on-year). Its UK/ROI sales represent a relatively small proportion of its overall footprint (158,913 copies or 16% of global sales).

Among titles that are mostly actively purchased as opposed to given away for free, the next largest in terms of digital circulation were BBC Science Focus (40,892), Time Magazine’s EMEA edition (40,431) and Hello! (36,142).

Overall, the news and current affairs sector fared well, taking six of the top ten spots among actively purchased digital magazines. New Scientist (worldwide circulation of 35,627 excluding Australasia and US/Canada which are reported separately), The Spectator (34,164 excluding Australia), Time Magazine’s APAC edition (30,088) and Money Week (26,400) were all in the top ten.

Looking at year-on-year changes on a sector-by-sector basis, men’s lifestyle (where combined average circulation was up 17% year-on-year), countryside and country (up 9%) and motoring and motorcycling (up 5%) fared the best.

Magazine digital circulation 2022: Selected sector by sector round-up and full table of all titles below

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Private Eye was the biggest-selling and biggest-growing print news and current affairs magazine in the UK and Ireland in 2022 according to new ABC figures.

The satirical magazine, which is available only in print, grew its circulation 5% year-on-year to an average of 238,322 (its highest total since 2017).

Last year Private Eye was the fourth-fastest growing print news magazine in the ABCs, coming in behind The Oldie, London Review of Books and The Spectator.

This year, though, it was one of only two publishers to record print growth, the other being the Alan Rusbridger-helmed Prospect magazine which was up by 2% to 18,510. Former Guardian editor Rusbridger’s first issue as editor was published in December 2021.

• Full breakdown of print and digital magazine ABCs for 2022
• Magazine ABCs 2022: Digital edition circulation up by 22%
• Magazine ABCs 2022: Slimming World only women’s interest title to see print growth

The Spectator saw a 16% increase in its digital UK/ROI circulation, and was the only title on this list to have increased it. Previously the biggest-growing print title on this list, this year it shed 9% of its UK/ROI print subscribers. The title is now the fifth-highest circulation publication on the list in the UK/ROI, with an average weekly readership of 60,298.

The highest print circulation overall remained The Economist, which boasts global circulation of 561,605. In the UK and ROI, that figure stood at 95,452, a 15% year-on-year decline.

Nonetheless, the magazine boasts by far the highest digital circulation of any publication on this list, having risen 2% to above one million for the first time. The publisher said in June last year it had hit 1.2 million subscribers.

The title with the next highest digital circulation, Time magazine, recorded a figure of 40,431.

The Week magazine scored the second highest UK/ROI print circulation, with 115,624 (a 5% year-on-year decline). Its sister title The Week Junior came fourth on the same list, declining 9% year-on-year to 80,197. The fastest decline on the list, meanwhile, was at The Week Junior Science and Nature, which dropped 16% to an average weekly circulation of 23,437.

Press Gazette’s sister title The New Statesman withdrew from ABC last year but did release unaudited figures on Tuesday saying its paid circulation has grown by more than 27% in the past year to 43,230, with a total average circulation (including free distribution) of 47,320 per issue. That circulation, which the publication said was its highest in 40 years, would put it between the New Scientist and The Oldie on the list below.

New Statesman marketing director Sam Fairburn said the title had “created consistent subscription growth” by developing its digital products alongside building up “enterprise subscriptions and the growth of our podcasts and app audiences”.

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The UK’s consumer magazines saw a circulation decline of 11% in 2022, according to the latest ABC data.

Combined average circulation globally fell to 24 million in 2022 across print and digital, compared to 26.8 million in 2021.

In just the UK and Irish markets, taking out wider global sales, the overall picture was slightly better with circulation down by 7% to 21.2 million.

• Magazine ABCs 2022: Digital edition circulation up by 22%
• Magazine ABCs 2022: Private Eye leads UK news mags with best sales since 2017
• Magazine ABCs 2022: Slimming World only women’s interest title to see print growth

Scroll down or click here for full tables of ABC magazine circulation data for 2022.

Most magazines report data once annually for the full calendar year, but for titles that report more regularly – for example every six months – we have taken their latest ABC report and made like-for-like comparisons with the same period in 2021.

Among actively purchased magazines – i.e. when free, membership and multiple copies are excluded – total global circulation was down 15% (13.4 million in 2022 compared to 15.3 million in 2021).

For the approximately 220 UK consumer magazine titles audited by ABC, 183 saw smaller global circulations in 2022 compared to 2021 and 31 print and digital titles grew.

Among the digital winners titles were the online versions of Kelsey Media’s consumer gadgets magazine Stuff (up 22% to reach an average digital circulation of 16,468) and Motor Sport (up 18% to 10,436).

Among the print winners meanwhile were Private Eye which saw UK/ROI sales up 5% to 238,322, Future-owned football magazine Four Four Two (up 6% to 28,043) and National Geographic (up 2% to 48,098).

At the other end, women’s fashion and lifestyle stalwart Elle UK saw one of the biggest falls with a drop of 27% to 72,369 in the UK/ROI. Fashion title Harper’s Bazaar also saw its circulation badly hit – down 25% to 65,407 in UK/ROI sales. Both are owned by Hearst UK.

Overall, global print circulation was down 14% falling to 20.9 million in 2022 compared to 24.3 million in 2021. Circulation of just actively purchased print copies was down by a similar proportion (15%), having fallen to 11.1 million last year.

Bauer’s TV Choice was the top selling print magazine with average sales of 972,869 per issue.

The Economist led the pack on global digital edition sales on one million – almost twice that of its print edition (561,605).

The ABC-audited online magazine market remains smaller than its print sector. Combined global digital circulation in 2022 was 3.1 million.

Titles can choose to audit their digital and print edition separately (as noted in the tables below) or provide ABC with a combined print and digital number. Where there is a separate digital ABC certificate the figures are not de-duped (meaning they include bundled subscriptions where readers have more than one format included in the price).

By sector, women’s weeklies were hard hit with no title gaining on its 2021 sales. Worst-hit was Hearst title Best which saw average UK/ROI sales down 27% year on year to 48,593, while Reach’s celebrity title New! was down 22% to 58,287.

Bauer’s Take a Break was the UK’s best-selling women’s weekly magazine, with 300,390 copies circulated per issue, although it still recorded a year-on-year fall in circulation (down 8%).

Unlike 2021, where some sectors such as gardening were less hard-hit in the UK, sectors generally fared badly across the board in 2022.

Overall, fewer titles submitted data to ABC in 2022 – 240 globally, compared to 261 in 2021. Print and digital certificates are counted separately here where relevant.

There were eight titles that reported for the first time in 2022. Among the new launches was Immediate Media’s new children’s magazine Lego Minecraft which achieved an average circulation of 46,083 in its first year.

Bauer Media, publisher of titles including TV Choice, Take A Break and Empire, said it was the biggest-selling magazine publisher circulating more than 111 million copies in 2022, almost a third of audited magazines sold in the UK during 2022.

Chris Duncan, Bauer Media’s chief executive of UK publishing, said: “These set of results demonstrate the robust performance of our portfolio of brands despite the challenging market conditions that our industry faced in 2022. We’ve seen newsstand sales perform solidly in most areas and this has given us a foundation to strengthen our digital and international offerings.

“We will continue to invest in our content as well as our editorial and membership platforms in 2023 and allow the brilliant talent across our business to shine. We also look forward to working collaboratively with our partners and advertisers to deliver consistent results for their businesses through these challenging times. Finally, thanks as ever to the millions of readers who made these results possible.”

Radio Times, BBC Gardeners’ World and BBC Good Food publisher Immediate Media said it had a combined ABC-audited print and digital circulation of 2.1 million, with its print circulation down 10% year-on-year to two million and its digital circulation, where audited, up 9% to 178,803.

It said it was the leading magazine publisher for subscriptions, with 997,948 across print and digital, although this was down 9% year-on-year.

Chief revenue officer Duncan Tickell said: “Despite the difficult economic climate, Immediate’s trusted, quality brands continue to entertain and engage large audiences and maintain their market leading positions whilst growing reach across more platforms than ever before.

“Our subscriptions business continues to perform strongly across print and digital editions, complemented by a fast growing, premium apps business in our food, gardening and history portfolios.”

UK magazine circulation 2022: Sector by sector round-up

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Most of the 250-odd UK consumer magazine titles audited by ABC lost circulation in 2021 but by no means all.

• Read our full breakdown of digital editions circulation here (up 20% on average)
• News magazine ABC figures for 2021

Among some of the big winners in terms of print sales were the London Review of Books (up 4% to 91,859), Private Eye (up 1% 237,754) and The Big Issue (up 5% to 50,359).

Iconic women’s lifestyle magazine Cosmopolitan was one of the biggest fallers (down 26% to 138,243 UK and RoI sales).

Every title in the womens’ weeklies sector lost sales year on year with Best (down 20% to 66,452) and New! (down 22% to 75,204) the biggest fallers.

The total ABC figures quoted below are combined print and digital numbers, except for those titles which choose to audit their digital edition separately.

Where there is a separate digital ABC certificate the figures are not de-duped (meaning they include bundled subscriptions where readers have more than one format included in the price).

The Economist leads the pack with 995,228 digital edition sales globally, versus 648,543 global print sales.

Primary and pre-school magazines remain one of the strongest performing sectors. News and current affairs and gardening titles also performed well.

Immediate Media boasted a combined print and digital circulation in the last six months of 2021 of 2,508,680 – up 5% year on year, with 1.2m subscribers. Its best performer was BBC Gardeners’ World, up 14% year on year.

Executive chairman Tom Bureau said: “The strong performance across our print portfolio, both on the newsstand and on subscriptions, combined with double-digit growth in our digital business and the return of our live events last year, has helped us celebrate our 10th anniversary in style, with our best-ever financial results.”

UK magazine circulation 2021: Sector by sector round-up

News and current affairs magazine circulations

TV listing magazine circulations

Women's home interest magazine circulations

Women's interest lifestyle and fashion magazine circulations

Women's weeklies magazine circulations

Cookery and kitchen magazine circulations

Sport magazine circulations

Motoring magazine circulations for 2021

Leisure magazine circulations

Home interest magazine circulations

Children and teen magazine circulations

Leisure and county magazine circulations

General interest, science and men's magazine circulation figures

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Private Eye secured its position as the UK’s top selling news and current affairs magazine with a 1% year on year rise to an average of 227,039 sales per issue in the latest ABC figures.

The Spectator, London Review of Books and The Oldie also saw growth in their UK and Ireland circulations, compared to last year’s figures.

The Economist was the third highest circulation print current affairs magazine in the UK and Ireland, as well as far and above the UK-based current affairs title with the highest worldwide average print circulation (at 648,543).

The circulation data also included information on the number of print editions that were given away for free and the number that were actively purchased.

While almost all current affairs magazines included reported more than 90% of their print editions being actively purchased, for The Critic just 42% of its 18,062 domestic print circulation was accounted for by paying readers.

The last year saw a slew of changes to the leadership of the London Review of Books, with commercial director Reneé Doegar promoted to publisher and Jean McNicol and Alice Spawls becoming new co-editors of the magazine, succeeding Mary-Kay Wilmer. During Doegar’s total 11 years at the magazine circulation has risen by 55%.

Commenting on the latest ABC figures, Doegar said: “It’s fantastic to see our subscriptions on the rise for another consecutive year of sustained growth, particularly during the challenges we have faced during the pandemic.”

She went on: “The LRB started with just four people and now has a staff of over 60 amazingly talented individuals working not just for the paper, but supporting it through the business, the bookshop, the cake shop, published books, bespoke product lines, and our renowned author event series.”

The New Statesman announced this week that it was withdrawing from ABC – in common with numerous other titles which choose not to be audited by the body.

It announced independently that its print circulation had reached a 40-year high of 41,000, of which 37,000 were paid copies. Its last ABC-audited total was 36,591.

New Statesman Media Group marketing director Sam Fairburn explained the move, saying: “Each day we work with our clients and their evolving needs to create solutions that cover a multitude of channels, platforms and audiences, from podcasts and newsletters to print, and the time and resource put into the ABC hasn’t served the purposes of the business as it is today.”

Image: Private Eye

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Cooking, gardening and children’s learning magazines continued to be among the biggest circulation winners from the Covid-19 pandemic in the first half of 2021, when the UK was in lockdown.

The biggest annual growth among adult magazines was at Garden Answers, which saw its average circulation grow by 38% to 70,391 in January to June, and BBC Gardeners’ World, which grew by 36% to 301,026 copies over the same period and remains the UK’s biggest gardening magazine.

The growth trend for gardening magazines was particularly apparent for subscriptions. Immediate Media’s BBC Gardeners’ World title grew subscriptions by 53% year-on-year to 219,543, while newsstand sales stayed steady.

Scroll down to see full magazine ABC figures for January to June 2021

At Bauer’s monthly Garden Answers, subscriptions grew by 62% to 55,171 over the six-month period. Newsstand sales were down 10% to 15,102.

Meanwhile at sister weekly title Garden News total circulation was up by 15% to 43,507. This included subscription growth of 32% to 19,685 and newsstand sales up 3% to 23,519.

[Read more: Radio Times and Gardeners’ World editors on how pandemic made mags essential again]

Chris Kerwin, Immediate group managing director, said: “For the market leading gardening magazine BBC Gardeners’ World to have grown at 36% year-on-year to again reach a circulation of over 300,000 copies is extraordinary and testament to all the hard work of the team throughout the pandemic.

“The May issue remains one of the most important moments every year on the magazine newsstand and our subscriptions growth has been stellar. Add to that the digital growth we’ve seen in the same period shows that BBC Gardeners’ World really is a brand that is firing on all cylinders.”

Cooking magazines

Food titles are also among the specialist titles doing well, with Immediate’s Olive and BBC Good Food growing by 24% and 23% respectively.

BBC Good Food commercial director Simon Carrington said: “We’ve listened to our audience and adapted the magazine to suit the changing needs of the reader and delighted that sales have grown accordingly.”

He added that Olive was relaunched in January to have “an elegant look with a real focus on everyday food and lifestyle content”.

“The fact that our ABC has grown period-on-period as well as year-on-year just shows how well received the changes have been received by existing and new readers,” he said.

Immediate’s BBC Home Cooking Series magazine also grew by 15% to 21,489 from January to June.

Children’s titles

The biggest ABC circulation growth was at Fun to Learn – Friends, which was up by 44% to 51,618. Sister title Fun to Learn – Peppa Pig grew by 29% to 55,709.

For older children, Dennis title The Week Junior continued its strong upwards trend, growing by 18% to 100,916.

[Read more: How children’s news magazines have thrived during pandemic as ‘antidote to screen time’]

Its sister title The Week Junior Science and Nature, which launched in 2018, posted its first ABC figure of 30,057.

The Week Junior editorial director Anna Bassi said: “We strive to provide children with magazines that they genuinely love to read, and seeing strong results like this shows that the hard work of our talented editorial team is paying off.”

News and current affairs magazines

Adult sister title The Week saw its print circulation fall by 3% to 132,143 and its digital circulation down by 6% to 28,843.

The Economist conversely grew its digital publication by almost a third to 964,518 although its print circulation fell by a quarter to 693,255.

Private Eye grew sales by 3% to 237,338. Within this subscriptions grew by 11% to 174,927 while newsstand sales fell by 16% to 60,984.

The Spectator is no longer audited bi-annually by ABC but shared its own figures on Thursday. It said sales were up 27% to reach 105,850, the highest in its 193-year history. Even without digital, print is at an all-time high of 77,675 sales, it said.

Women’s and lifestyle titles

The Evening Standard’s ES Magazine, which is entirely distributed for free in London, dropped its distribution by 42% to 180,101.

Of mostly paid-for titles, the biggest fall in circulation was at Slimming World Magazine, down by 34% to 287,208. Bauer’s Closer fell by a fifth to 97,424.

Bauer also reported declines at other women’s titles such as Yours, down by 7% to 175,500, Bella, also down by 7% to 127,781, and Heat, down by 11% to 70,010.

However the fortnightly Grazia was up by 7% to 86,413

Bauer said an uplift in its subscriptions and digital circulations reflected trends seen across the industry since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chris Duncan, Bauer’s chief executive of UK publishing, said: “We’re pleased to see a strong competitive performance and a continued upward trend in subscriptions and in digital circulation.

“This reflects not only the consumer trends accelerated by the pandemic but the work we’ve undertaken to bring our long-term strategy to life and our continued investment in editorial excellence.”

[Read more: Full 2020 magazine circulation breakdown shows average 6% year-on-year drop]

Most magazines are audited by ABC each full year, so the latest list features fewer publications than the bigger round-up each February.

Year-on-year % change figures were not available for some publications if they chose to report differently in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Magazine circulations for the six months to the end of June 2021 via ABC:

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Men’s, tech and entertainment magazines in the UK saw an average circulation decline of 9% in 2020, according to the latest ABC figures.

By comparison women’s magazines saw an average circulation decline of 8%, as did TV titles.

However most publishers celebrated subscriptions and digital growth offsetting much of the loss in newsstand sales during the Covid-19 pandemic.

UK magazine sales overall fell by 6% year on year in 2020 according to Press Gazette analysis of the latest ABC release.

The two biggest paid-for magazines in the UK, excluding branded National Trust and supermarket titles, are Bauer’s TV Choice with a circulation of 1,041,826 which is down 5% year-on-year, and Future’s What’s On TV, down 10% to 689,427.

[Read more: Full breakdown of UK magazine circulations shows average 6% year-on-year drop]

Bauer, whose other biggest titles are Take A Break (down 11% to 365,869) and Yours (177,121), said one in five of its titles saw year-on-year growth in the second half of 2020 despite the extraordinary times.

Celeb weekly Heat saw its circulation fall by more than a third (35%) to 70,504 but Bauer said the title instead achieved 86% growth year-on-year online.

Similarly Closer saw its ABC circulation fall by 32% to 103,781 but print subscriptions were up 40% year-on-year and digital was up 42%.

Chris Duncan, Bauer Media UK’s chief executive of UK publishing, said these ABC results “cover a period of extraordinary disruption” for both readers and retailers.

“Across the Bauer Media UK audited range to have one in five of our titles in year on year growth and the overall portfolio in only single digit decline is something we should be very proud of.

“We thank our readers for their extra efforts this year to get their hands on our titles despite the restrictions and hope we have played our part in keeping the nation entertained and inspired during this period. We look forward to a strong 2021 performance in all sectors as we get back to normal trading.”

[Read more about the news and current affairs magazine ABCs: The Week Junior thrives under lockdown]

Hearst UK’s biggest paid-for title, after the free magazine it produces for Asda, is Good Housekeeping which saw its circulation fall by only 2% across the whole year to 410,241.

Prima (207,766) also fell by only 3% year-on-year while Country Living grew by 2% to 169,114. However Cosmopolitan saw 14% decline to 167,654 across the whole of 2020.

Immediate Media, whose biggest title is the Radio Times which saw a 6% decline to 496,965, said it had 9% year-on-year growth across its whole portfolio in the second half of 2020 as people turned to their specialist interests during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Its total subscribers grew by 14% to more than 1m due to “changing consumer habits and a desire to secure regular access to valued content”.

Its highlights included growth of 38% at food magazine Olive, a 33% circulation increase at BBC Gardener’s World, and a 10% rise at BBC Good Food.

Immediate chief executive Tom Bureau said: “Our special interest brands, in these extraordinary times, have become more important than ever to our audiences, helping them to get the most out of their passions and hobbies, whether that be cooking, gardening, cycling or watching the latest streaming sensation.

“In the last year we have grown our paid and premium reach across all platforms, a testament to our commitment to consistently deliver world class content and create a platform for further growth.”

Future’s most-read magazine, Woman and Home, saw 17% decline to 209,017 for the whole year while Woman’s Weekly fell by 9% to 189,263.

However Future said its titles had overall seen “substantial digital growth”, an increase in subscriptions and a “resilient” newsstand performance considering the circumstances.

Chief content officer Angela O’Farrell said the results showed the “dramatic shift in wider consumer behaviour and shopping patterns over the last 12 months which Future was well placed to lean into”.

“As pandemic restrictions reduced opportunities for outdoor activities, audiences have increasingly turned to titles that help them make the most of their indoor spaces; be that through home improvement, cooking and decorating, or simply relaxing with engaging lifestyle content,” she added.

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