Former Express online editorial director Tom Hunt is now editor-in-chief of the brand.

In recent months Gary Jones has left the Express after six years as editor-in-chief and subsequently Sunday Express editor David Wooding also departed.

Jones was the second editor-in-chief of a Reach national newspaper to leave their post this year after six years: Alison Phillips stepped down from the Mirror at the end of January and was succeeded by Caroline Waterston.

Also this year London free business newspaper City AM, which is expanding its remit nationally, has appointed its former editor Christian May to return to the role.

Press Gazette has put together a round-up of the UK’s national newspaper editors as they stand (in no particular order). We will keep this list updated.

UK national newspaper editors

The Times

Tony Gallagher was appointed editor of The Times on 28 September 2022 following the resignation of John Witherow the day before.

Gallagher was promoted from deputy editor, and had already been acting as caretaker editor for several months while Witherow was on medical leave.

Gallagher joined The Times in February 2020 from fellow News UK title The Sun where he was editor for five years. He has also previously edited The Daily Telegraph between 2009 and 2014.

The Sunday Times

Ben Taylor was named editor of The Sunday Times on 19 January 2023, stepping up from deputy editor after news Emma Tucker would be leaving to lead The Wall Street Journal from 1 February.

Taylor was previously executive editor of the Daily Mail, where he worked for 22 years, before joining The Sunday Times as deputy editor in 2020.

Daily Mail

Ted Verity has edited the Daily Mail since November 2021, having previously been at the helm of the Mail on Sunday since 2018 and deputy at the daily paper before that.

He is editor-in-chief of Mail Newspapers, meaning he has overall responsibility for the Mail brands in a seven-day operation.

Mail on Sunday

Following Verity’s promotion, David Dillon was appointed to be Mail on Sunday editor in December 2021. He was previously Verity’s deputy.

Dillon first joined the Mail on Sunday from the Daily Express in 2001, working as news editor for a number of years before being promoted to executive editor.

The Sun and The Sun on Sunday

Victoria Newton has been editor-in-chief of The Sun since February 2020. She had been editor at The Sun on Sunday since 2013 but took over from Gallagher when he left The Sun for The Times.

Newton has maintained responsibility for the Sunday title in her editor-in-chief role.

Daily Mirror

Caroline Waterston, previously editor-in-chief of Reach magazines and supplements, has edited the Daily Mirror since the start of February 2024 – initially on an interim basis before she was made permanent on 30 April.

Waterston first joined Reach (then Trinity Mirror) in the mid-1990s and her roles have included deputy news editor and features editor of The People, features editor of the Sunday Mirror, head of features and deputy editor on the Sunday titles, deputy editor-in-chief across the Express and Star titles after their acquisition by Reach, and editor-in-chief of the national magazines including OK! magazine.

Waterston took over from Alison Phillips, who had edited the Daily Mirror since March 2018 and was editor-in-chief of that title plus the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People from February 2020 with the move to a seven-day operation.

The Daily Telegraph

Chris Evans has been editor of The Telegraph since January 2014 after the sacking of Tony Gallagher. He has been with The Telegraph since 2007, with previous roles including news editor and head of news, after joining from the Daily Mail where he spent 11 years.

The Sunday Telegraph

Although Evans has ultimate editorial responsibility at The Telegraph, Allister Heath has edited The Sunday Telegraph since 2017, having previously been Telegraph deputy editor.

Daily Express and Sunday Express

Tom Hunt, formerly Express online editorial director, was named editor-in-chief of the brand on 20 September.

At the Daily Express he succeeded Gary Jones who stepped down after six years in the role, which he used to detoxify the brand. Sunday Express editor David Wooding departed his own role about two months later as the Express becomes a seven-day operation without a dedicated Sunday Express team.

Before that Hunt had been with the Express for more than eight years, including as video news editor, leading its first team dedicated to video, and head of news.

Hunt said: “There is a huge opportunity here which I’m excited to take further, both digitally and in print, particularly as we cover Labour’s first months in office and see out a Conservative leadership contest.”

The Guardian

Katharine Viner has been editor-in-chief at The Guardian since 2015, when she was voted by staff to take over from Alan Rusbridger. She was previously editor-in-chief at The Guardian’s US edition.

The Observer

Under Viner’s leadership, Paul Webster edits The Observer. Viner appointed him to the role in 2018, after 20 years as deputy at the Sunday paper.

i

Oly Duff has been editor-in-chief of the i since June 2013, when he became the UK’s youngest national newspaper editor aged 29 – a title he maintains today.

Financial Times

Roula Khalaf has edited The Financial Times since January 2020, when she succeeded Lionel Barber who spent 14 years as editor.

Khalaf had been Barber’s deputy since 2016 and her previous roles at the FT included foreign editor and Middle East editor. She first joined the business newspaper in 1995.

Daily Star

Jon Clark has been seven-day editor-in-chief at the Daily Star since March 2018 after the paper was bought by Reach (then Trinity Mirror). He was previously associate editor at the Daily Mirror from 2013.

Daily Star on Sunday

Under Clark’s leadership, Denis Mann edits the Daily Star on Sunday and is a deputy on the daily. He has similarly held the role since March 2018.

The Independent

Geordie Greig was appointed as editor-in-chief of the digital-only The Independent in January 2023, just over a year after being ousted from editing the Daily Mail. He has previously edited the Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard and Tatler.

He took over at The Independent from David Marley, who had been acting editor since October 2020 when Christian Broughton was promoted to managing director.

Free newspaper editors

Metro

Deborah Arthurs is editor-in-chief of Metro in print and online, having taken the lead on a new combined operation in March 2023.

She had been editor of Metro.co.uk from 2014 and a “gentle refresh” of the brand aligning print and online marked the beginning of her tenure as overall editor.

Arthurs has taken over from Ted Young, who had been editing the print newspaper for eight years.

Evening Standard

Former GQ editor of 22 years Dylan Jones was appointed editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard following a brief period as editorial consultant.

Jones began in the role on Monday 5 June 2023, becoming the news outlet’s first permanent editor in more than 18 months.

Before him, Jack Lefley was acting editor from July 2022 and Charlotte Ross had previously been acting editor from October 2021.

The last full-time editors were Emily Sheffield, who left in October 2021 after 15 months, and former chancellor George Osborne, who was in post between May 2017 and July 2020.

City AM

Former City AM editor Christian May is returning to the free business title after almost four years away at the end of August 2024.

He succeeds Andy Silvester, May’s former deputy who took on the role himself, whose last day was Thursday 18 July.

May described his previous five-year stint as editor as “the happiest and most rewarding years of my life”, adding: “I couldn’t be more excited to rejoin the team at City AM as it gears up for an ambitious era of growth and innovation.”

The post Who are the UK’s national newspaper editors? appeared first on Press Gazette.

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).

National newspaper circulations in October 2024 (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 2024 would be as follows:

• The Sun: 700,000
• The Sun on Sunday: 600,000
• The Sunday Times: 322,000
• The Times: 180,000
• Daily Telegraph: 190,000
• Sunday Telegraph: 125,000
• The Observer: 80,000
• The Guardian: 60,000

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:

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, up 4% to 116,747 as growth in subscriptions, non-UK sales and bulk copies distributed in locations like airports and hotels offset a drop in newsstand sales, and the Sunday Mail in Scotland, up 0.2% to 69,923. The Sunday Mail did, however, fall by 17% year-on-year.

The FT was the only paid-for paper to grow its circulation compared to May 2021, in large part because it has increased its distribution of bulk copies post-Covid from 25,361 last year to 34,661.

London's free business newspaper City AM has also continued its post-Covid growth, reaching its highest distribution level since returning in September from an 18-month hiatus.

Editor Andy Silvester told Press Gazette's Future of Media Explained podcast this month that the paper's return to pre-pandemic levels "probably proves a lot of sceptics wrong". In May City AM's average free distribution was 82,455, down 4% on February 2020 but up 1% month-on-month.

The biggest month-on-month declines were at the Daily Mirror and Daily Star, both down 4%, while the biggest annual drop was at the Sunday People, down 24%. All three are Reach titles.

April 2022

The Daily Mail and Daily Mirror both marginally grew their print circulations in April compared to March, bucking the industry's usual downward trend.

The Daily Mail was up 1% month-on-month to 879,102 while the Daily Mirror also grew by 1% to 327,341.

However both fell by 11% compared to April 2021 and both figures were still their second-lowest respectively since ABC auditing began.

The Daily Mail's digital edition had a readership of 76,315 in April.

Free newspapers Metro, Evening Standard and City AM all also saw month-on-month growth, increasing their print distributions.

After an 18-month Covid-enforced hiatus, free business newspaper City AM returned to print in September and has now upped its distribution for three months in a row. It is now at 81,713, its highest since February 2020 when it was on 85,738.

Metro remains the most-distributed newspaper in the UK, putting out 1,074,889 copies for free in April.

The Sun, Times, Telegraph and Guardian titles no longer publish their ABC print circulations, having opted to take them private and focus on other metrics - for example, online subscriptions for The Telegraph and Times.

The Financial Times saw an 8% decline month-on-month to 112,344 but grew by 12% on April last year, making it the only paid-for newspaper to grow year-on-year. This is largely because it is putting out more bulks - free copies in locations such as airports and hotels - than it did for much of the Covid-19 pandemic (now 33,849 compared to 22,487 last year) while it has also roughly tripled subscriptions in a year (to 9,776).

March 2022

The Mail on Sunday under editor David Dillon had a circulation of 748,965 in March.

Similar to its competitors, the newspaper's circulation has been in steady decline over several years. In March, it fell by 14% year-on-year and 2% compared to the month before. It is down a fifth from 952,914 two years earlier in March 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

The Mail on Sunday is currently in the centre of a sexism row around a story reporting that Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner had been accused of crossing and uncrossing in the House of Commons to distract Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Dillon refused to meet Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, saying journalists should “not take instruction from officials of the House of Commons, however august they may be”.

The Mail on Sunday's circulation remains behind the Daily Mail on 875,125 but a long way ahead of its next ABC-audited paid competitor, the Daily Mirror on 325,271.

The Sun, Times, Telegraph and Guardian titles all no longer publish their ABC-audited circulations.

The Financial Times was once again the only paid-for newspaper to see year-on-year growth, due to putting out more bulk copies in locations like airports and hotels than in March 2021. It was up 21% on the same time last year, to 121,490 - of which a third (40,958) were bulks.

However its circulation was higher in October to December last year, and its last pre-pandemic figure was 146,373 in March 2020. At that time about a fifth were bulk copies.

City AM's free distribution rose above 80,000 for the first time since it resumed printing in September after an 18-month Covid-enforced hiatus. It distributed an average of 80,440 copies in March compared to 85,738 in February 2020.

The Metro remains the most-distributed newspaper in the UK, putting out 1,073,993 copies for free in March.

February 2022

The Daily Mail's print circulation has fallen below 900,000 for the first time in more than 100 years.

In February the newspaper sold an average of 896,455 copies each day - or 767,021 on weekdays and 1,449,049 on Saturdays - following a month-on-month drop of 1% and year-on-year decline of 7%.

The Daily Mail launched in 1896 with sales of 397,215. Within its first few years it surpassed one million and, despite a brief drop in 1915 in a row with the Government over troops' munition supplies, remained above that mark until the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sister title Mail on Sunday had an average circulation of 767,756 in February, down 2% month-on-month and 10% year-on-year.

The Sun, for many years the Daily Mail's closest ABC rival, no longer publishes its circulation - but the Mail overtook the red-top for the first time in 42 years in 2020.

The most-circulated national newspaper remains the free Metro, with a distribution of 1,066,327 that was up compared to both the month and year prior.

By contrast, fellow free newspaper the Evening Standard was down 9% year-on-year to 448,043.

The biggest annual declines were at Reach's Sunday People (95,637, down 20%) and Daily Star Sunday (107,478, down 19%).

January 2022

The Daily Mail was the only paid-for national newspaper to grow its circulation from December to January.

It reported 1% growth month-on-month, while its year-on-year decline of 5% to 909,201 was the smallest among the paid-for newspapers that don't use bulk copies.

The Financial Times grew by 17% year-on-year to 113,817 while the i grew by 1% to 142,598. Excluding bulk copies given away for free at locations such as airports and hotels, the FT grew by 3% to 79,446 and the i stayed steady on 137,483.

The biggest year-on-year decline was at Reach's Daily Star Sunday, which fell by 19% to 110,133. Month-on-month, the biggest decline was at the FT, which dropped by 18%.

Metro stayed steady between December and January but reported a 72% year-on-year jump. It built back its free distribution, which was massively scaled back in the early pandemic, and crossed the 1m mark once again in May last year.

December 2021

The Daily Star’s circulation has fallen below 200,000 for the first time in its 43-year history.

The tabloid had an average daily readership of 197,998 in December, according to the latest ABC figures, following a 2% month-on-month drop and a 14% decline since a year earlier.

The figures show continuing print readership decline as the lowest the Star’s circulation had gone during the first Covid-19 lockdown was 219,275 in April 2020.

It follows Reach stablemate Sunday People’s circulation falling below 100,000 in November.

In December the Daily Star Sunday and Sunday People saw the biggest annual circulation drops of 20% and 19% respectively.

The only paid-for newspaper to grow year-on-year was the Financial Times, which has upped the number of bulk copies given away for free since last year. However it still fell 2% month-on-month with bulk copies, newsstand sales and subscriptions all down in December.

The only newspaper to see month-on-month growth was City AM, which returned to print in September and in December was distributing an average of 78,418 copies each day compared to 85,738 in February 2020.

November 2021

The first ABC figures for London freesheet City AM since it returned to print in September show distribution is down 9% since February 2020.

Meanwhile, in November the Sunday People's circulation dropped by 21% to 99,915 - the first time since ABC records began in 2000 that its average circulation was below 100,000, even during the earlier Covid-19 lockdowns.

City AM distributed an average of 77,959 copies each weekday between 8 and 28 November, compared to 85,738 in February 2020.

Chief executive Jens Torpe told Press Gazette in September he hoped to reach pre-pandemic levels of distribution within about a month of relaunching.

According to the newspaper's ABC certificate it has hugely boosted its number of distribution points from 913 in February 2020 to 3,632. The business paper struck a deal to be found in all WeWork’s London locations and new offices, and went further out into the commuter belt to compensate for changing travel patterns as many City workers stuck with flexible working.

Average pagination has gone from 28 in February 2020 to 26, with editorial content up from 70% to 72%.

Nationally-published free newspaper Metro, which continued distributing throughout the pandemic for groups like key workers who kept travelling, remains 25% down on its February 2020 distribution level with 1.05m. It re-crossed the 1m mark in May and is the most-read newspaper in the UK.

The Evening Standard, which like City AM is only distributed in London, is 44% down on its February 2020 level with a distribution of 439,445 - but chief executive Charles Yardley told Press Gazette this was a "comfortable number that’s working well". It also kept publishing throughout the pandemic, but experimented with free home delivery for the first time.

The only newspapers to record year-on-year growth in November were Metro and the Financial Times, which both grew by 37%. The FT's newsstand sales were down by a quarter but subscriptions and bulk copies distributed for free were both up.

October 2021

The FT has grown its circulation by a third in the past year, and by a quarter between September and October, largely by putting out more free bulk copies.

The newspaper reported a circulation of 138,446 in October, which includes 55,222 bulk copies distributed for free in places like airports and hotels which have more than doubled since October 2020.

The FT's newsstand sales have decreased by 29% from 20,357 to 14,490 in a year although paid subscriptions grew 191% from 3,697 to 10,764. The FT also reports sales in other countries of 57,970 within its total.

It is the FT's highest circulation since the first three weeks of March 2020, when it was on 146,373, while the trend at most paid-for newspapers has been decline throughout 2021. (The i, which is up since January, is the only other national to put out bulks).

Meanwhile Metro has settled its free distribution on 1.05m which is up 35% compared to October 2020 when some workers had begun to return to work but at a slower pace than expected.

Its free rival in London, the Evening Standard, is down 10% compared to last year on 457,542.

The Saturday edition of the Daily Mail remains the most-read newspaper with a weekly circulation of 1.47m. The weekday edition sells 784,439. Both the daily and Sunday editions saw a 9% year-on-year decline.

The biggest year-on-year decline was once again at The Sunday People, which fell by 19% to 101,597. The Daily Star Sunday was down 18% to 118,260.

September 2021

Reach's Sunday People and Sunday Post newspapers recorded the biggest year-on-year declines in circulation in September of the publicly-audited national newspapers.

Both saw their circulations decline by 19% while the Sunday Mirror, Daily Star Sunday and Sunday Mail all fell by 14%. All are owned by Reach.

The Financial Times was the only paid-for newspaper to grow its circulation year-on-year, by 7% to a total of 111,898. However its free bulk copies, distributed in locations such as airports and hotels, increased by 41% to 32,351. Although paid subscriptions grew by 130% to 9,102, newsstand copies were down by a quarter to 15,154. Some 55,291 copies are sold in other countries.

Aside from the free Metro and the FT, every other newspaper remained steady between August and September changing by between 0% and -2%.

August 2021

The i was the only national newspaper to grow its paid circulation from July to August as subscriptions growth offset declining newsstand sales.

The i's print subscriptions grew from 23,199 in July to 25,223 in August. At the same time it put out more paid multiple copies, known as bulks, in locations such as airports and hotels (rising from 4,006 to 4,620).

Its average circulation therefore grew from 143,486 to 144,570. However this was still 5% down on last August.

The August ABC figures are the first in which the Guardian and Observer are absent, having chosen to keep their circulations private as News UK and the Telegraph did last year.

The Guardian's departure from the grid comes after its circulation was overtaken by the Financial Times in June for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Previously the audited circulation of the FT had been above that of the Guardian since 2000, the earliest available online ABC records.

The FT was again the only paid-for title to have grown year-on-year as it distributes bulk copies that were missing during the pandemic. It grew 12% year-on-year to 105,213 in August but fell by 2% from July.

The free Metro more than doubled its August 2020 figure following the end of the winter lockdown and the ramping up of its distribution to reach people increasingly venturing out again. It has now distributed an average of more than 1m copies per day for three months in a row.

July 2021

Putting on bulk copies has helped the FT to grow its circulation by nearly a quarter (24%) year-on-year while sales of The i paper have fallen by just 1% over the same period, new ABC figures for July show.

The FT sells more than 107,000 copies, of which more than 32,000 are bulks. The i, which is now part of the Daily Mail group, has a circulation of more than 143,000 copies, with some 4,000 bulks.

The free Metro's distribution was in excess of 1m in July 2021, nearly tripling its print output during the height of the pandemic.

All other newspapers audited by ABC reported a fall in year-on-year circulation. The Telegraph, Sun and Times titles are not included.

The Daily Mail has the largest paid-for circulation among the titles audited by ABC at more than 933,000. Its sister title the Mail on Sunday is behind on a little over 813,000 copies.

June 2021

Reach’s national Sunday titles continued to experienced the biggest year-on-year circulation drops in the industry in June.

The Sunday Post dropped by 16%, Daily Star Sunday was down 15%, Scottish tabloid Sunday Mail was down 14%, the Sunday People was down 13% and the Sunday Mirror by 11%. The Sunday Express was Reach’s best faring Sunday title, falling by 7%.

The best performance among paid-for newspapers was at the Financial Times which grew by 38% year-on-year and 5% month-on-month to 108,014.

As lockdown restrictions have eased the FT has put the number of bulk copies which go to locations like airports and hotels back up by 751% - from 3,534 to 30,093 – putting it on a similar level to June 2019 when 31, 057 bulk copies were distributed. The number of copies it sold in other countries was also up, although this was half 2019 levels.

No other paid-for newspapers grew month-on-month, and the i was the only other to grow year-on-year, although this could mainly be attributed to an increase in bulk distribution similar to the FT.

However the i's bulks remain, by contrast, far below 2019 levels - 50,250 in June 2019 versus 3,699 this year.

The Metro has continued putting its free distribution back up as lockdown restrictions continued to ease. It went up by 10% between May and June and 224% compared to last June, topping 1m on average.

By comparison its rival in London, the free Evening Standard, has decided to maintain its distribution at Covid levels and concentrate on online growth. It was distributing 492,406 copies on average in June.

Scroll down or click here for new graphs charting the ups and downs of the UK national press in the past 20 years – with a spotlight on how Covid-19 affected circulations in the past year.

May 2021

The Financial Times and the i were the only paid UK national newspapers to grow their circulations in May compared to last year – despite the first Covid-19 lockdown's severe impact on spring 2020 newsstand sales.

Both newspapers reported growth even when their bulk copies (those distributed for free at locations such as airports and hotels) are taken into account.

The i grew its circulation by 3% year-on-year excluding bulks to 140,721 or by 5% to 144,192 when bulks are included.

Meanwhile the FT grew by 2% to 77,218, excluding bulks, in May. Including bulks it was up 30% to 102,579.

Every other national newspaper saw an annual decline, with the smallest at the Daily Express, owned by Reach, which fell by 1% to 239,024.

May continued the trend of Reach’s Sunday titles experiencing the biggest year-on-year drops, however (scroll down or click here to see April's report).

Scotland’s Sunday Post and Sunday Mail were down 14% and 11% respectively. Nationally the Daily Star Sunday was down 12% and the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People were both down 7%.

In May last year most national newspapers began to recover after their circulations had been hit hard by the first five weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Month-on-month, the FT (2%), i (1%) and the Guardian (0%) were the only paid-for titles not to see a dip. The biggest decline from April was at the Mail on Sunday (5%).

The ABC figures also demonstrated the impact of loosening Covid-19 restrictions on free newspapers as Metro and the Evening Standard increased their distributions by 190% and 9% respectively compared to May last year.

April 2021

Reach’s four Sunday titles – the Daily Star Sunday, Sunday Express, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People – were the only national titles to have a lower circulation in April than they did during the UK’s strictest Covid-19 lockdown one year earlier.

The rest of the UK’s national newspapers are back above the circulations of their worst Covid slump, which took place amid uncertainties about the future for the industry as the UK was told to stay at home at the start of the pandemic.

Despite its 7% annual decline, the Daily Star Sunday had the biggest month-on-month growth of 3%. Most paid-for titles were able to keep their April circulations similar to March, with a drop of -1% the largest nationally and of -2% at the Sunday Mail the biggest overall.

The Scottish title, which is also owned by Reach, was down year-on-year by 6% to 85,450.

Despite the declines at Reach's Sunday titles, its national dailies the Mirror and Express were up by 2% and 3% respectively compared to April last year.

The Financial Times grew by 13% year-on-year to 100,215 in April. However it has upped its number of free copies distributed at locations such as airports and hotels from 7,042 last April to 22,487 – excluding these, its circulation has decreased 5% to 77,728.

By contrast the i, the only other paper to include bulk free copies in its ABC audited circulation, was up by 7% if they are included (143,380) and 9% if they are not (140,013).

This equals the Observer, which was also up 9% compared to last April to reach 140,894 copies each week.

The i’s DMGT stablemates the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday were also both up by 4% and 5% respectively on last year. DMGT’s free title Metro has been “building back” its distribution, as editor Ted Young told Press Gazette last week, to reach an average of 805,471 per day in April. It then topped 1m on 17 May as lockdown restrictions eased.

The Evening Standard also increased its free distribution compared to last April, by 16% to 492,575. Chief executive Charles Yardley has told Press Gazette he is planning to keep numbers at around half a million going forward.

March 2021

Paid-for national newspaper circulations have fallen by almost a fifth (18%) on average since just before the first Covid-19 lockdown.

The final year-on-year comparison with pre-Covid ABC newspaper circulations shows the biggest declines have been at the i and Financial Times, which are both down by about a third to 143,204 and 100,781 respectively.

They are the only two paid-for ABC-audited titles continuing to distribute bulk copies to public locations such as airports. Excluding bulks, the FT’s circulation fell by 35% year-on-year and the i’s fell by 18%.

The smallest, and only single-digit, declines were at the Mail on Sunday and Observer which both saw their circulation fall by 9% in the past year to 867,077 and 142,277 respectively in March 2021.

ABC’s March 2020 report spanned 2 to 22 March, stopping before the first lockdown came into place – although many people began working from home and curtailing social gatherings from about a week earlier.

The Evening Standard’s free circulation is down by 29% to 494,364 compared to March last year. The newspaper’s chief executive Charles Yardley told Press Gazette this month he remains committed to print but will not raise the distribution back to pre-pandemic levels.

Free rival Metro has dropped its distribution by half to 695,444. It initially dropped by 70% in April last year and rose to a

The biggest-selling issue of a UK national newspaper remains the Daily Mail’s Saturday issue, which sold an average 1,588,164 copies each week last month compared to 1,699,891 in March last year.

February 2021

The Observer reported the smallest drop in print circulation among UK national newspapers in February – but this was still down by 9% on the year before.

The Observer, which had an average circulation of 140,920, was the only newspaper not to see a double-digit drop. The next smallest decline was the Mail on Sunday, which fell by 12% to 848,526.

Sister title the Daily Mail was the only publication to see month-on-month growth from January, up 1% to 964,825. It was 15% behind the 1,134,184 it had in February 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK.

However, the Daily Mail’s digital edition grew its average circulation by 4% from 94,171 in January to 98,107.

[Read more: See latest online audience data published by Pamco here]

In February free titles Metro and Evening Standard distributed 58% and 38% fewer copies respectively compared to the year before. Both are continuing to publish for key worker commuters although most people remain under a “stay at home” order, with the Standard also delivering to doorsteps in certain parts of London.

The biggest paid-for circulation drops in February were at the Financial Times (down 36%) and i (35%), the only two ABC-audited titles continuing to distribute bulk copies to public locations such as airports.

Excluding bulks, the FT was down 40% and the i was down 18% - taking it below the Daily Star’s 20% decline.

January 2021

The UK’s current coronavirus lockdown has not hit national newspaper circulations as hard as last year’s strict April restrictions did, according to new figures from ABC.

However, most titles are now again below the circulation levels to which they had begun to recover in May last year.

The Daily Mail’s print circulation has fallen to its lowest since the peak of the Covid-19 crisis in April.

The UK’s top-selling newspaper sold an average of 960,019 copies each day in January, an 18% drop year-on-year. In April it reported a circulation of 944,981, which grew to 979,836 in May.

The Mail overtook The Sun in May 2020 and Press Gazette understands it has since consolidated its lead.

Digital edition sales add a further 77,736 to the Mail's daily circulation figure, according to ABC - keeping it above 1m.

In March last year, before the first UK lockdown, the Mail was selling in excess of 1.1m copies per day.

Also below their May 2020 circulations were the Mail on Sunday, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star, Sunday Express, Daily Star on Sunday, Sunday People, and the Guardian.

Only the Observer, i and Financial Times were above their May figures from last year in January.

Several national newspapers saw bigger year-on-year drops in January than the Mail: the FT’s circulation fell by 39%, the i by 35%, the Sunday Post by 22%, the Daily Star by 21%, the Daily Express by 19% and the Daily Mirror by 19%.

The smallest year-on-year drop was at the Observer, which saw a decline of 8% to a circulation of 143,764.

The biggest month-on-month fall from December was also at the FT (down by 8% to 97,067) followed by the Daily Star Sunday, i and Guardian which were all down by 5%.

The only title to report any growth was Scottish tabloid the Sunday Mail, which was up 1% month-on-month to 88,819.

Metro and the Evening Standard, which had their free commuter distribution models hit by the Covid-19 lockdowns, were down 58% and 39% respectively year on year in January.

December 2020

The Mail on Sunday reported the smallest drop in print circulation in December – but this was still down by 9% on the year before.

It had an average circulation of 954,497 in December 2019, down to 865,439 last month. It was the only newspaper not to see a double-digit year-on-year decline, with the Observer the second smallest drop (by 10% to 147,296).

The Financial Times saw its print circulation fall by more than a third (35%) year-on-year to 105,358 – the biggest fall among the UK’s paid-for national newspapers.

However, the FT did grow by 1% month-on-month as it continues to recover from the initial Covid-19 lockdown slump common to each of the titles.

The Guardian saw the biggest month-on-month growth of 2% in December.

The biggest fall from November 2020 was at the Sunday People, down 5% to 120,429.

Wales went into lockdown on 20 December while Scotland and Northern Ireland were placed under tight restrictions from Boxing Day and much of London and the south east of England entered strict Tier 4 restrictions days before Christmas.

Metro and the Evening Standard, which had their free commuter distribution models hit by the Covid-19 lockdowns, were still 45% and 38% down respectively on the previous year’s print readership.

November 2020

Several national newsbrands managed a month on month increase in print circulation in November, with The Observer seeing the biggest rise at 4%.

The Observer's print circulation rose from 145,680 to 152,129 having remained steady in the previous month.

The Sunday Express, the Sunday People and the Guardian also saw print sales rise 1%, after seeing declines between September and October

The Observer saw the smallest year-on-year decline at 5%. It was the only title not to report a double-digit year-on-year fall.

The Financial Times had the biggest paid-for decline (36% to 104,024) followed by the i (31% to 151,888).

Metro and the Evening Standard, which had their free commuter distribution models hit by the Covid-19 lockdowns, were still 46% and 40% down on the previous year's print readership.

October 2020

The Observer was the only national print newspaper brand not to see a year on year print circulation decline in October.

The Observer's print readership remained steady on 145,680 as every other title except the Mail on Sunday, which fell by 9%, reported a double-digit year-on-year decline.

The Financial Times had the biggest paid-for decline (39% to 105,592) followed by the i (31% to 151,888).

Metro and the Evening Standard, which had their free commuter distribution models hit by the Covid-19 lockdowns, were still 45% and 39% down on the previous year's print readership - although Metro managed to add a fifth back onto its output in October.

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Free London business newspaper City AM is looking at dropping its Monday print edition, going down to three days a week.

Staff were told on Tuesday that the planned changes will put a small number of roles at risk of redundancy.

City AM initially went down to a four-day print run in January 2023 when it dropped Fridays in response to City workers preferring to stay at home to end the week post-Covid.

It is now consulting with staff and its advertising partners on reducing its print run further to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only.

It believes the print advertising volume it has seen in 2024 can be accommodated across three days each week.

If it goes ahead the plan will happen in 2025 and the quarterly City AM Magazine, which relaunched after Covid this year, will not be affected.

A City AM spokesperson told Press Gazette: “City AM remains committed to its print product as a key part of its offer to business audiences in Europe’s most affluent financial and consumer market. Our newly relaunched magazine will also remain a key part of this.

“We will continue to build the City AM brand through digital and social channels, not least through the new City AM Studios in London, while focusing print publication on the midweek days which attract the greatest footfall amongst our target audience.”

Since the Friday edition was dropped, City AM has been bought by online beauty retailer THG which has invested in the brand digitally including with the launch of its first app. The app, which had been downloaded 41,000 times by the end of October, is expected to be a particular area of development next year, as are newsletters.

City AM chief operating officer Harry Owen told staff in an email, seen by Press Gazette: “This shift will become increasingly important in City AM’s future, as our media strategy continues to reflect new and growing audiences, consuming City AM content outside of print.

“Whilst our enthusiasm for newspapers has not changed, we recognise that the majority of City AM’s readers are now interacting with the product digitally.”

In September City AM’s website reached 1.5 million people in the UK according to Ipsos iris, with an average of 1 minutes and 53 seconds spent per person.

Meanwhile City AM’s average daily print distribution was 68,144 having stayed largely steady for the past two years. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, during which it paused print entirely for 18 months, it was putting out around 85,000 copies per day.

In September City AM won the distribution contract for the newly-rebranded weekly London Standard and they now share co-branded bins across London. The free Red Bulletin magazine owned by Red Bull has also now been added to the network.

Owen said at the time that the deal meant "high quality print content is available seven days a week across London" because City AM now sits in the bins from Monday morning until Thursday lunchtime when the Standard's weekly edition arrive and take the space through the weekend.

City AM recently moved into new offices in Cheapside, London, housing it alongside THG staff for the first time. The new office includes a production studio as it ramps up video and audio output.

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City AM has struck a deal to take up the vacant spots in the Evening Standard’s distribution network across London when the latter paper launches its new weekly edition.

City AM will be available from 6am on Mondays to Thursdays, having dropped its Friday edition last year as many commuters continued to prefer ending the week working at home.

The new-look weekly edition of The London Standard, as it will be renamed, will then be distributed from 4pm on Thursday afternoons starting on 26 September and be available until Monday morning each week.

City AM will continue to distribute about 70,000 copies per edition. Its latest ABC figure for August shows an average distribution of 68,144.

London Standard to distribute 150,000 copies per week

The London Standard will drop its distribution to 150,000 copies per week. In July, before it began to reduce its frequency down from five days a week, the Evening Standard was putting out an average of 276,885 copies each weekday.

The new co-branded bins will be found at 530 distribution points across Zone 1 to 6 of London. Currently City AM goes out to 430 bins.

The bins are also deeper than those City AM is currently distributed in so they can accommodate the London Standard’s larger run.

City AM chief operating officer Harry Owen said the deal reflected the industry “moving into a more collaborative space” and will mean “high quality print content is available seven days a week across London”.

“Alongside our ever-growing focus on digital reach, there remains an undeniably special and valuable place for print. This new partnership between two of London’s most iconic media brands will ensure that residents and commuters continue to be served by quality newspapers and magazines.”

The Standard’s new executive chairman Albert Read said: “As the Standard embarks on the next phase of its journey, its new weekly print publication will set the bar high, reaching new readers, and reflecting the dynamism and excitement of London.”

‘Biggest update’ to City AM visual identity since launch

City AM is simultaneously launching a major brand refresh including its first logo change since its September 2005 launch.

It comes just over a year after it was bought out of administration by online beauty and nutrition group THG, the owner of Myprotein and Cult Beauty.

THG helped City AM launch its first app within six weeks of the takeover. The app is now said to have been downloaded by more than 20,000 users and a “major upgrade” of its functionality and layout is coming soon.

The brand refresh has been in the works for six months but the rollout has been timed to coincide with the new distribution bins being readied.

As well as the logo which goes live on the site from 26 September, it includes a redesigned print edition, new masthead and a full website redesign and user experience overhaul rolling out across the autumn. The publisher said this will result in better brand consistency across print, website, apps and social channels.

Owen said: “The changes we’re starting to unveil from September 26 constitute the biggest update to our visual identity in our 20 year existence. All of us at City AM are excited by the bold new design but also by what this investment says about our confidence in the future. 

“Our commitment to print is underscored by the paper’s eye-catching new layout and design, but this is more than a rebrand; we’re overhauling the functionality and user experience of our website and app, and investing in bespoke studio space in our City offices and at THG in Manchester, to boost our video and audio output.

“The brand roll-out will also include our partnership content with Reach plc and the daily business and financial news coverage City AM provides across both print and digital titles.”

City AM is now providing business and financial news for many of Reach’s biggest newspapers including the Daily Express where the City & Business page now says “powered by City AM” and features content from its journalists.

Also within the past few weeks former editor Christian May has returned as editor-in-chief to lead the title as it aims to become “truly national”. It also has plans to bolster its video and audio output using a custom-made studio in its new offices shared with THG on Cheapside in the City of London.

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City AM will provide business and financial news for many of Reach’s biggest newspaper titles including the Daily Express.

The new partnership comes as City AM appoints Christian May as editor-in-chief – a return for the former editor after almost four years away from the newspaper (and journalism).

May will replace Andy Silvester, the former Sun PR chief who joined City AM as May’s deputy editor in September 2019 and then succeeded him in late 2020.

Silvester’s last day as editor was Thursday (18 July) and May will return at the end of August.

The two-year deal between City AM and Reach will see the business newspaper’s content appear online in the Express, Business Live (which will continue its existing regional coverage) and sites in its Live network, plus in print in the Express, Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo.

Reach chief digital publisher David Higgerson said working together with City AM “will give us the opportunity to strengthen our quality business journalism offering across our portfolio, and them the chance to get their content in front of our engaged audiences, both nationally and locally around our strong regional centres”.

Former Daily and Sunday Express business editor Geoff Ho – described as a hero after confronting the London Bridge attack terrorists in 2017 and getting stabbed in the neck – announced on 2 July that he had left the company after 17 years and was now on gardening leave.

City AM chief operating officer Harry Owen said: “This partnership has provided us with an incredible opportunity to combine resources and provide readers with best-in-class journalism that tackles both local and national issues under one roof.

“As a market-leader, Reach is renowned for its regional coverage. The combination of this footprint, THG’s studio capabilities and City AM’s deep understanding of UK business is compelling.”

City AM has ambition to be ‘truly national’ publication

The publisher said the deal “forms a central part” of its “ambition to become a truly national business and finance publication”.

After traditionally sticking to London since its 2005 launch, City AM has this year hired its first UK editor launching a national newsdesk based in Manchester.

It is also moving to a new office in the City of London after outgrowing its current headquarters with growth in editorial and commercial.

City AM has grown its headcount from 40 to 53 since its takeover by online beauty and wellbeing retailer THG in July last year.

It had gone into administration but was rescued by THG in a pre-pack deal and subsequently broke even in the remainder of 2023 following investment in editorial (especially digital and video), commercial and the launch of its first app within six weeks.

Revenue in January to April was up 9% compared to the year before.

Fellow London free print newspaper Evening Standard is dropping its daily edition to go weekly, blaming “shorter commuting weeks, widespread Wi-Fi along our commuting routes and the desire for our readers to consume ever-richer content across a variety of platforms and devices”.

But, just as free newspaper Metro told Press Gazette this week it is profitable in print as well as online after a restructure in the past year, Press Gazette understands City AM has no plans to reduce its print circulation and that it is continuing on the growth trajectory described by Owen in March.

City AM upped its print distribution year-on-year by 1% to 68,112 in June, and kept it steady compared to May. Online the publisher said it gets 2.4 million unique website visitors per month.

Christian May back as City AM editor

May, who was editor from 2015 and through the first part of the Covid-19 pandemic when City AM was forced to take a hiatus from print, has described his time at the title as “the happiest and most rewarding years of my life”.

“I couldn’t be more excited to rejoin the team at City AM as it gears up for an ambitious era of growth and innovation,” he said, after a period back in PR/consultancy with Teneo, 5654 & Company and Hawthorn. For his first stint as editor he was plucked from the comms team at the Institute of Directors, a group for business leaders, aged 28 without any full-time journalism experience.

Owen added: “We have an ambitious plan for City AM’s future and Christian’s experience and track record will help ensure we deliver on those ambitions.

“Our newsroom is bigger than ever, and growing, while commercial innovation and investment continue to transform the business. Christian will lead a dynamic editorial team of journalists and will play a key role in serving our readers across the country, growing our audience and supporting the business on its next stage of growth.”

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City AM editor Andy Silvester is leaving the free business newspaper after almost four years at the helm.

Silvester first joined City AM as deputy editor in September 2019 after a stint as Sun leader writer and PR chief. He became acting editor and then editor after the departure of the previous incumbent in the role Christian May.

The next editor of City AM has already been decided and will be announced “in due course”, the title said, to be in place by the end of the summer. A team of senior editors will lead City AM’s print and online output in the interim.

Silvester, whose last day is 18 July, has prided himself on putting out playful front covers (see below for a selection of his favourites) and nurturing young talent in the newsroom.

He said: “It’s been tremendous fun, a privilege, and above all an honour to work with some fantastic people. I’d especially like to thank our readers, old and new, who have helped us punch well above our weight. I have no doubt City AM will continue to prosper under new leadership.”

During his tenure Silvester has overseen the transition to a digital-first newsroom and a new website and the return of the print edition after it was forced into an 18-month hiatus by the Covid-19 pandemic and commuters staying at home.

Silvester and his team have staked their claim to have been the first to coin the term “TWAT” meaning people that, post-Covid, only go into the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This working pattern led City AM to drop its Friday print edition in January last year.

Silvester also helped steer the ship amid City AM going into administration in July last year and then being bought by online beauty retailer THG, which saved all 40 editorial and commercial jobs.

Chief operating officer Harry Owen told Press Gazette in March that the business title subsequently broke even in the remaining months of 2023 after the takeover, grew to a headcount above 50, launched its first app, relaunched the City AM Magazine, and saw an increase in revenue of 12% in January and February compared to the same months last year.

Owen said on Wednesday: “Andy was instrumental in bringing City AM back into print, not least because of some unforgettable front covers – he’s one of the best in the business.

“He has also played a key role in the integration of City AM into THG – I’ve been very grateful for his support over this last year and wish him every success in the future.”

City AM had a print distribution of 68,108 in May, up 1% year-on-year and claimed to be “enjoying its highest sustained digital audience of 2.5m unique visitors a month” to its website.

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Most UK national newspapers have voted Labour in the 2024 general election with several previously Conservative-supporting newspapers switching allegiance in their endorsements.

Update: Daily Mail gracious in defeat as Fleet Street reacts to Labour landslide

Previously Conservative-supporting titles, including The Sun, Sunday Times and Financial Times, have backed Labour in their leader columns.

The Daily Star, which has previously remained neutral, also called for change on its election day front page.

As with the 1997 general election (when Labour’s Tony Blair won a landslide) The Times has not endorsed any political party (then it urged readers to vote for candidates who were against further integration with the EU).

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats have received no national newspaper endorsements.

When all the circulations of UK-wide daily and Sunday newspapers are added up and collated according to election endorsements, the results show Fleet Street evenly split between Labour, Conservatives and Neutral/Don’t Know with 1.9 million in terms of newspaper circulation backing each position.

While more national newspapers have voted Labour than Conservative, the support of the top-selling Mail titles plus the Telegraph and Express titles mean in circulation terms the result is a dead heat.

When non UK-wide titles like City AM, the Evening Standard and Daily Record are included the balance is tipped in favour of Labour.

The Labour Party's 2024 general election newspaper (and one magazine) endorsements:

Daily Star: Labour/Count Binface

"It seems nailed on that Labour and Sir Keir Starmer will walk to victory.

"To be honest, all he has had to do is not completely balls things up like his rivals. But what is clear is that it is absolutely time for a change.

"We thought Count Binface was probably the best option but we're willing to give this other fella and his party a chance too."

The Sun: Labour

The day before the general election The Sun teased its election day front page, which declared: "As Britain goes to the polls, it's time for a new manager (and we don't mean sack Southgate)".

The paper also published its leader column laying out its position, saying that although Rishi Sunak "has many policies which we support" the Conservatives "have become a divided rabble, more interested in fighting themselves than running the country...

"Put bluntly, the Tories are exhausted. They need a period in Opposition to unite around a common set of principles."

The Murdoch-owned title rejected Nigel Farage's Reform UK, dubbing it "a one-man band which at best can win only a handful of MPs" despite policies which it said had "struck a chord with millions".

"There are still plenty of concerns about Labour," the paper said, including its plans on immigration and its failure to clarify its tax position, "but, by dragging his party back to the centre ground of British politics for the first time since Tony Blair was in No10, Sir Keir has won the right to take charge.

"We will hold Labour to account, without fear or favour. But we wish them every success."

As with other right-leaning titles, it marks the first time The Sun has endorsed the Labour Party since 2005, the last time the party was led by Tony Blair.

The Evening Standard: Labour

The Evening Standard, which backed the Conservative Party in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 elections, reversed course the day before the 2024 election and endorsed the Labour Party.

The London freesheet said Rishi Sunak "has turned out to be a disappointing Prime Minister" while Keir Starmer had "relentlessly reformed Labour from a party under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over its handling of antisemitism to a plausible alternative government".

The paper sounded a warning over the possibility of a so-called 'supermajority' for Labour, saying the UK "needs a serious, sensible, centre-Right alternative".

But it concluded: "Ultimately, after 14 years in office, the Tories have earned the right to lose. It is clear that this city wants change and that you have probably already made your mind up that Labour can be that change."

The Sunday Times: Labour

Condemning the record of the Conservatives, The Sunday Times said in its leader column: "The period since 2016 has been defined by political chaos that has fatally distracted the political class from those issues that matter most to voters — healthcare, schools and the economy.

"Britain now needs a radical reset. If the Tories are due a period in opposition, that can only mean a Labour government. Starmer should be praised for hauling his party back into the mainstream."

Financial Times: Labour

The Financial Times said in its leader column: "We believe in liberal democracy, free trade and private enterprise, and an open, outward-looking Britain…

"The Labour party of Sir Keir Starmer is better placed today to provide the leadership the country needs…

"Much of the country hankers for a fresh start. Labour should be given the opportunity to provide it."

The Independent

Despite its name, The Independent does go in for election endorsements and this time it has backed Labour.

The online-only title said: "Labour promises change and offers hope. In Rachel Reeves, Sir Keir will have a chancellor seen as sound on the economy, who promises to keep a steady hand on the wheel of the nation’s finances, after the wild lane-changing of the brief – but immensely damaging – tenure of Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng. We hope their mantra will be to be compensatory and not too confiscatory."

The Observer: Labour

The Observer signalled its backing for Labour with a front-page editorial saying voters have "a historic opportunity to evict one of the worst governments this country has ever endured".

The Guardian: Labour

The Guardian has endorsed Labour again, after supporting Jeremy Corbyn through gritted teeth in 2019 while acknowledging his "obdurate handling of the antisemitism crisis".

This time The Guardian's backing was less equivocal. The leader column on Friday 29 June, for publication in its Saturday print edition (the biggest sale of the week), said: "Labour has climbed out of the crater of its 2019 defeat, and it stands on the brink of power with some eye-catching policies.

"On the environment, workers’ rights and housebuilding, it signals a break with the past, and a very welcome desire to save capitalism from its failures and excesses. Its most popular policies are interventionist: banning junk food and creating a publicly owned green energy company. How refreshing to hear that government programmes and stronger trade unions make economies more productive and equitable."

The Economist: Labour

The Economist endorsed the Labour Party on Thursday 27 June, marking its first endorsement of the party since 2005.

The magazine said Labour "is right in its diagnosis that nothing matters more than solving Britain’s stagnant productivity" and that Keir Starmer "deserves credit" for breaking with the policies of predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, but criticised the leader for running "a maddeningly cautious campaign".

It likened making a case for the Conservative Party's virtues to "a teacher struggling to say something nice about the class troublemaker", claiming: "Rishi Sunak is a better prime minister than Liz Truss, though if praise came any fainter it would be invisible."

On the Liberal Democrats, the magazine said "the logic that led us to endorse them in 2019 no longer holds". In 2019, it argued, the Lib Dems were the better option compared with "Boris Johnson's Brexit-obsessed Tories and Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, a hard-left charisma vacuum".

The Economist endorsed the Lib Dems in both the 2017 and 2019 elections and David Cameron's Tories in 2010 and (as a coalition with the Lib Dems) in 2015. It endorsed Tony Blair's Labour in 2001 and 2005 — but not 1997, when he won his first, landslide victory.

Daily Record: Labour

Scotland's Daily Record has announced it is asking its readers to vote Labour after not explicitly backing any single party at a general election since 2010 (when it also endorsed Labour).

It said in a major front page splash on Tuesday 25 June: "This election is not about independence. It's about poverty, spiralling mortgages, soaring bills, the cost of living crisis, a crashed economy, dodgy contracts, broken public services, a failed Brexit, Partygate. It's about kicking this vile and corrupt Conservative government out of office."

In a leader column, the Reach-owned Record said readers should vote tactically in some areas though: "The exceptions are the seats in the north-east and south of Scotland where the Tories and the SNP are in a two-horse race.

"Labour is not strong in these regions and a vote for the SNP is the best way to topple the Tories.

"This is particularly true in the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat where we hope the SNP candidate defeats Douglas Ross.

"But ultimately this General Election is not about the SNP. Many Scots continue to support independence but the election on July 4 will not deliver this political outcome."

Daily Mirror: Labour

The Daily Mirror declared itself early for Labour, writing in a "Voice of the Mirror" editorial published on Friday 24 May that "the new generation needs a Labour government more than ever".

The editorial, which accompanied an interview with Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner in Saturday's Mirror, said that "there are many reasons why we need Labour to win on July 4 but chief among them must be the chance to secure a better future for our children.

"As Angela Rayner tells the Mirror, most young people have only known life under the Tories. They deserved so much better. The Conservatives have stood by as more and more children are brought up in poverty.

"They didn’t recruit enough teachers and cut funds for one-to-one tuition and music lessons. Tens of thousands are being taught in buildings which are falling apart because they cancelled Labour’s rebuilding programme.

"And when Covid struck, Rishi Sunak refused funds to help kids catch up on lost learning. The Tories have robbed too many children of the chance to fulfil their potential. That’s why this generation needs a Labour government more than ever."

The Mirror is an avowedly Labour-leaning newspaper, disclosing on its website that it "has backed the Labour Party in every election since 1945".

Sunday Mirror: Labour

The Sunday Mirror said: "Britain deserves change after 14 years of chaotic Tory rule."

The Conservative Party's 2024 general election newspaper endorsements

Daily Telegraph: Conservative

The Telegraph's endorsement of the Conservatives was published online less than three hours after Sunak announced the election date on Wednesday 22 May.

The newspaper said: "The unarguable truth facing voters is that they face a straight choice between Sir Keir and Mr Sunak. It is similarly unarguable that a Labour government might well bring change, but it will not be of the good kind.

"Labour would tax more, regulate more, be weaker in defence of the national interest and be far more relaxed about mass migration and the excesses of green ideologues.

"The Tories can hardly claim that their own record is unblemished in any of these areas. But the party must now pull together behind the Prime Minister and hammer home the message that the situation will be much worse if Sir Keir enters No 10."

Although The Daily Telegraph's print front page the day after the announcement splashed on the pun "Things can only get wetter" in reference to Sunak's speech in the rain with the New Labour anthem "Things Can Only Get Better" blaring in the background, the front page analysis nonetheless maintained his "message came across loud and clear".

Election night 2024: How broadcasters plan to report results

Mail on Sunday: Conservative

The Mail on Sunday has given the Tories its full-throated support. Its last pre-election front page led with the headline: "Rishi warning: Starmer will wreck Britain in just 100 days".
In a full-page leader column, the title admitted the current Conservative government has been an "unsatisfactory and disappointing administration" but it said Labour would be "much worse" and so urged its readers to "vote Conservative on Thursday".

Sunday Express: Conservative

The Sunday Express led on Rishi Sunak's claim: "Starmer to 'wreck Britain in 100 days". Despite its previous strong back for Brexit, the title warned readers against voting Reform in a full-page leader column because "you will be helping Labour candidates".

It warned that a big majority for Keir Starmer would give him a "free rein to transform Britain into a socialist state, with higher taxes, more regulations and closer links to the European Union".

It said: "If you have any doubt he is the right person, the only sensible option is to vote Conservative"

Sunday Telegraph: Conservative

The Sunday Telegraph also gave its last pre-election front page to the Conservatives with the headline: Labour will bankrupt every generation, warns Sunak".

Its leader column focused on Labour's shortcomings, rather than Conservative achievements noting its "vindictive assault on private education", adding: "Labour is the party of cancellation, culture wars and decolonisation". It urged its readers to vote Conservative because Labour would be "dramatically worse" than the Tories.

Daily Express: Conservative

On election day the Daily Express published a full-throttle front-page (and online) backing of the Conservatives.

It said: "Today is a day of reckoning. The Conservative Party faces a punishing pounding at the ballot box. We believe Labour's unchecked power would diminish this great country of ours. Your frustration that not enough has been done to protect traditional Tory values is understandable. And it is, of course, your inalienable right to use your vote as a protest though the price might be very high. That is why we will continue carrying the torch of Conservatism until it is burning bright again. In the nation's interest we urge you to... vote Tory."

Other 2024 election endorsements

City AM: Anyone but the Conservatives

City AM said in its leader column: "...for now, it is hard to conclude anything other than this: this government is out of energy, out of ideas, and should, therefore, be out of office.

"Does this mean a full-throated endorsement of Keir Starmer’s Labour? That is, unfortunately, beyond us."

The Times: Don't know

In a leader article published just in time for the election, The Times said: "This newspaper wants the next government to succeed, and it will not be ungenerous in praise if that is the case. But Labour has yet to earn the trust of the British people."

Metro: Neutral

Metro's front page on 4 July was thoroughly neutral, with a graphic stating "Britain goes to the polls" and headline that "the nation decides" although the sub-head added: "But top Tory admits Labour 'likely to win'."

The website also played it straight although it had an ad takeover on election day from the Labour Party urging people to "vote Labour today".

The i: Neutral

DMGT-owned the i's front page on polling day made its neutrality clear, telling readers it is "over to you".

It said: "Only one UK national newspaper has never supported a political party - and never will. The i paper = politics without the spin."

And editor Oly Duff told readers: "No one gets an easy ride. Not the Tories, Labour or Nigel Farage. We are funded by readers [through subscriptions and newsstand sales], so we are free to investigate anyone we like. We are not in the pocket of any media owner or special interest, so we can tell you what’s really going on. That’s why we have one of the highest trust ratings in UK media."

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After years of fighting for survival, City AM broke even in the period last year after its takeover by online beauty and wellbeing retailer THG in July.

The business newsbrand went into administration in July but was rescued in a pre-pack deal by the owner of Myprotein and beauty retailers Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic.

Since then City AM launched its first app within six weeks and has taken its headcount from 40 to 52.

Most of the investment so far has been in editorial, including hiring reporters, social media journalists, an opinion editor and the brand’s first UK editor (based in Manchester), taking the newsroom to a team of 30.

City AM Magazine, which stopped because of Covid-19, relaunched in digital in December getting 10,000 downloads through the baskets of THG’s “most affluent” customers. It will come back in print on a quarterly basis this year.

Chief operating officer Harry Owen told Press Gazette: “I was really proud that from acquisition until the end of last year, we broke even. We didn’t lose money. So as soon as the acquisition happened, we created stability.”

Revenue is said to be up 12% in 2024 so far compared to January and February of last year. City AM has seen a major shift since pre-Covid when at least three-quarters of its revenue came from print – now it is said to be about 50/50 print and digital.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the business hard as commuters stayed at home during the lockdowns and the free newspaper was forced to stop distribution for 18 months. In the meantime its digital transition accelerated.

The City AM website now attracts around 1.8 million unique monthly users, according to Google Analytics figures shared by Owen. Page views were up 65% year-on-year in February and are averaging month-on-month growth of 30%.

City AM has avoided the recent digital advertising downturn seen by many other publishers such as Reach, DMG Media and The Guardian because, Owen said, its small quality audience allows it to “hold a higher yield, even on the open market… we’re offering a quality audience at a high premium.”

According to a recent survey of readers, the website is now the biggest way people engage with City AM content, beating print for the first time.

Meanwhile the City AM app, which launched in September, is approaching 15,000 users.

Opportunity to nationalise City AM brand online

Despite this Owen said City AM will “absolutely” continue to publish in print, which has consistently had a free daily distribution of around 67,000 since October.

“We had a good Q4 in print, we’re having a good start to Q1,” Owen said. “We’re really pleased with the print product and the way it’s going. Pick-up’s good, we’re holding our ABCs. But it’s a volatile market. We know it’s volatile. So we have to keep diversifying.” This includes “good pick-up” in syndication revenue, he added.

The print newspaper has a “clear audience” in London business – and a “huge pocket of potential” readers on Mondays to Thursdays with 500,000 people working in the Square Mile and 120,000 in Canary Wharf. City AM stopped Friday print publication in January 2023 in response to changed working habits.

But “the real opportunity now is to take this brand and nationalise it, because the content is relevant, and broaden the content,” Owen said. This nationalisation will take place online, rather than expanding the print newspaper outside London.

“We’ve just hired our first UK editor in Manchester… so we’re covering a wider range of stories, but still really focused on what we’re good at, which is corporate news, Bank of England interest rates, we’re fantastic at Budget Day, things like that.”

A recent survey of 2,200 City AM readers showed that its average reader income is around £89,000 and it is disproportionately skewed to high-earners: 24% are additional rate taxpayers (taxable income over £125,140) compared to the UK average of 2.4% and 37% higher rate taxpayers (earning between £50,271 and £125,140; UK average 15%). Their geographical spread is 60% London, 25% in the rest of the UK and 15% international.

City AM now wants to reach a new and younger audience, Owen said. The average age of a City AM reader has gone up from the late 30s following its 2005 launch to the late 40s “which is why we’re really conscious about filling it up again from underneath”.

Owen explained: “In 2005, City AM was a deliberate repositioning against the FT to be a younger audience and I don’t think that’s changed really. It’s much more accessible. It’s free, for a start. So yeah, there’s a great opportunity.

“Also, there’s this convergence on social media, I think particularly, of younger people being interested in business news and investment. You really see that as a theme. So I think the opportunity to dial into that – it’s crazy that we may be a legacy media owner, even though we’re 18 years old. I don’t think we are. So I think there’s an opportunity there.”

In November, Owen charged the team with creating video content with no KPIs to see what works and what doesn’t.

“We’ve learned a lot from that and now we’ve come into the year with a clearer strategy about the frequency of publishing, the length of content, what topics we want to focus on,” he said, adding that monetisation will follow later.

Owen added: “We’ve always been very good at Twitter and Linkedin. Those have been strong platforms for us traditionally. We were astounded by our autumn statement Youtube piece that had 250,000 views and beat the FT and the BBC. I’m not saying we do this every day but that showed us that there was a real space for City AM content around these events.”

City AM’s most-viewed Youtube videos of 2024 so far are “Rishi Sunak bans vapes in the UK as the government crackdown on e-cigarettes” (27,000 views) and “Is London’s iconic BT Tower about to become a hotel?” (15,000 views).

Other areas of development have included a new vertical and newsletter called Ambition AM targeting entrepreneurs, an audience that will also be explored in events.

Events will increasingly be a “key business vertical for us”, Owen said. The flagship City AM Awards are continuing this year while the Impact Awards celebrating success in environmental, social, and governance were launched in December, the first new event under THG.

City AM also has a newsletter that sends three times every weekday – 7.45am, 12pm and 5pm – with 40,000 subscribers currently. Other newsletters in areas like lifestyle and the business of sport could follow in “little niches where City AM is really strong on content”.

THG support is ‘groundbreaking’ for City AM

All of this is going on with “unbelievable” support from THG, formerly known as The Hut Group, in areas like tech, social and SEO. “I can’t underestimate the tech side of it,” Owen said.

“You’ve got the entire resources of the THG tech team at your disposal. It’s huge, it’s groundbreaking for City AM.”

Owen added: “The great thing about being part of a £2bn company is we have both the enthusiasm from the leadership and management to invest and grow, but also a little bit of headway, like a bit of runway to be able to do that.

“City AM certainly for the last few years was fighting really hard for survival. And brilliantly, we’re not in that position at the moment and not for the future. We’re in a great place.”

Manchester-based THG is led by founder and chief executive Matthew Moulding and brought in £2.2bn in revenue in 2022 from its beauty, nutrition and ingenuity (proprietary e-commerce) divisions.

THG’s previous venture into media was through publishing its digital magazines The Supplement and The Highlight, with a combined circulation of 600,000. With THG helping City AM Magazine’s digital distribution, the business brand may soon help the retailer’s magazines go into print for the first time.

Owen has spent 12 years at City AM but not consecutively – and he was not at the newsbrand last year when the acquisition took place.

He did one initial eight-year stint ending with almost four years as commercial director until December 2013. He then returned as chief operating officer between 2018 and 2021. Moulding persuaded him to return to that role last year to lead the brand after the takeover.

Asked if he hears much from Moulding now, Owen said: “I probably have more interaction with Matt than City AM deserves given the size of what we are within THG. But Matt’s really clear, and he speaks to me about this often, that he’s an investor in this. That is the conversation we have. So he’s very focused on helping facilitate growth.

“He’s also an avid reader of the product. So I quite often get Whatsapps from Matt about an article that he particularly likes… he’s a very positive influence on where we’re going. But obviously, there’s loads of people who are also involved.”

City AM no longer ‘making decisions from a position of weakness’

Despite this, Owen said City AM has had no editorial interference from Moulding.

“He is absolutely 100% clear of City AM maintaining its editorial integrity… that’s really important to Matt, that City AM continues to be a trusted editorial product with integrity. So he is totally hands off when it comes to that. Positive Whatsapps, but no editorial strategy.”

Owen added: “I’ve worked at other media organisations where owners were heavily involved. If anything, I feel a lot of freedom and trust being given to us as custodians because… we have more in common than one might expect. On the face of it here’s this group of people up in Manchester, here’s a group in London. The products don’t really match.

“But actually, all of us are entrepreneurs number one. We’re all pro business. We’re all champions of UK business – we want to write good news stories. That’s quite hard right now, but we want to write good news stories. We also want to hold people to account. So if you like, I guess our ethics and values are really similar.”

Owen said that when he first joined City AM at its launch in 2005 it was “high risk. I’ve spent more or less most of my proper career trying to see City AM achieve its potential and I’ve never felt closer to that.”

He suggested that “sometimes you’ve got to break a few eggs. Maybe this was the thing that needed to happen… it’s a really positive time and just to have that [THG] support behind you, I can’t tell you the freedom it gives you because you’re not making decisions from a position of weakness.”

Owen has big goals to keep up City AM’s growth over the next year. He wants the website to continue growing at a similar pace and enter the list of the 50 biggest news websites in the UK, as well as reach 100,000 app downloads.

He also wants the commercial operation to begin scaling up to match the editorial growth.

“I think City AM has always been very good at providing solutions for clients that want to talk to our audience. We’ve always had to be quite creative, because we were quite small. But the difference is now we can put a client relationship into the biggest studios in the UK. We can deliver SEO on their campaign that is far beyond anything we could have promised five years ago.

“So I think you’re going to see City AM considered for more briefs than it ever has been because people now know we have the tech support behind us.”

Eventually City AM will be ready to work with THG on e-commerce and affiliate marketing, the “bedrocks” of Moulding’s company, but “for us it was about spending this initial time focusing on the core products and not trying to do everything tomorrow”.

“So, yes, I can see a future where we will work with THG on ecom and affiliate marketing. That’s not happening yet. That is to come. The list is really long. But everything’s going in the right direction. I couldn’t be happier to be back. It’s a really exciting time.”

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Online beauty and nutrition group THG, the owner of Myprotein and Cult Beauty, has bought free business newspaper City AM from administrators in a pre-pack deal.

All 40 editorial and commercial staff at 18-year-old City AM will become part of London-listed THG, which has a market capitalisation of around £1.3bn.

City AM’s co-founder and long-serving chief executive Jens Torpe will retire at the conclusion of the deal.

THG’s chief executive Matthew Moulding said: “We’ve long been reviewing opportunities in the disruptive media space but have waited for the right time and the right opportunity to make a digital step-change in adtech capabilities for Ingenuity,” referring to THG’s proprietary e-commerce platform.

The deal took place through a pre-pack deal from BDO, which had been appointed as administrators of City AM. Sky News had reported hours before the sale was announced that the business newspaper was “teetering on the brink of administration” but that talks with potential buyers were ongoing.

City AM’s owners said earlier this month they had been seeking investment but were now “open to a sale”.

The news brand is independently owned, with 50% of shares owned by a Dutch consortium and 25% each owned by Torpe and managing director Lawson Muncaster.

In a story announcing the deal, City AM editor Andy Silvester wrote that it means the brand “which has long been a champion of British business, will remain under UK ownership and give it the support of a partner with long-term aspirations and a strong balance sheet for growth”.

He wrote that THG will “invest in both editorial and technological resources for the newsroom as well as expanding the paper’s lifestyle and sports categories, with further investment into new areas including sustainability, wellness technology and beauty”.

Moulding said: “City AM is one of London’s leading media platforms and we will ensure this remains the case with full editorial independence. This deal helps us reach a huge new audience, complements our successful content creation studios and digital media expertise.”

Manchester-based THG itself publishes two mostly digital magazines associated with its retail brands: The Highlight, linked to beauty retailer Look Fantastic, and The Supplement, linked to Myprotein. The Highlight distributed 146,599 online copies for free every two months in July to December last year, according to ABC, while The Supplement was on 419,910.

The acquisition will bring THG and its brands “added reach into the most influential consumer and investment community in Europe”, they said.

City AM claims to have around two million monthly website unique visitors – around a 100% increase since pre-Covid – while its Monday to Thursday print edition had an average distribution of 67,602 in June. The paper dropped its Friday edition in January as it remains the quietest day for commuters following changes to working patterns introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Torpe said: “During our 18 years we’ve faced a few storms but none as turbulent as the past three years.

“We managed to survive lockdown but unfortunately we didn’t have the money to invest in digital and build on the strong progress we saw during the pandemic.

“I’m therefore delighted that a business like THG has taken over City AM. Their digital expertise will be a great asset, so after 18 years I take comfort in the knowledge that our ‘little baby’ will grow and become more than a teenager.”

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The owners of City AM have revealed they are open to a sale of the London business newspaper.

City AM is independently owned, with 50% of shares owned by a Dutch consortium and 25% each owned by chief executive Jens Torpe and managing director Lawson Muncaster.

They issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying they have been in discussions about prospective investment, with those conversations continuing.

But they added they are “now also open to a sale” of City AM through advisors FRP Advisory.

Muncaster said: “As London continues to bounce back from the pandemic, the time has come to think about the next chapter of City AM’s story.

“As a local paper at the heart of the financial universe, the brand is perfectly positioned to expand into new areas and develop new revenue streams that take advantage of the new media landscape.”

The statement suggested that a buyer would have an opportunity to “build on the brand’s recognition and rapidly diversify and expand City AM’s revenue streams”.

City AM readership and post-Covid changes

The newspaper ended its Friday print edition in January as footfall in the City of London remained low at the end of the week post-Covid. However, new digital products were created to go live on Fridays instead.

In print, City AM distributed an average of 67,714 copies each Monday to Thursday in May, according to ABC. This was down by a fifth compared to January 2020, pre-Covid. The newspaper went on a print hiatus for 18 months during the pandemic as many commuters stopped travelling and worked from home, returning in September 2021.

Online, the newsbrand reports receiving between 1.8 million and two million unique visitors each month, more than three quarters of whom are based in the UK.

Both its print and online audiences are mainly ABC1 (upper and middle class) with a “higher than average” disposable income, it also said.

City AM editor Andy Silvester told Press Gazette’s Future of Media Explained podcast last year that the publisher had come out of the pandemic “in a stronger place as a media organisation, as a newsroom, than we were going in because we were forced to accelerate our digital transformation”.

As to whether or not freesheets can survive following changed working patterns, Silvester added: “I fundamentally think that they can and they will and that if they’re done properly and done well you can keep an engaged audience…”

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