View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Data
  2. Audience Data
August 11, 2016

Mag ABCs: Cosmo leads women’s lifestyle/fashion sector with 60 per cent circulation boost

By Freddy Mayhew

Cosmopolitan has rocketed its total average circulation up by 60 per cent year-on-year, smashing the overall trend of decline for monthly women’s magazines, the latest ABC figures show.

It was helped by a price cut to £1 and 100,000 extra free copies.

It also recorded the second highest total circulation of paid-for titles in the women’s fashion/lifestyle sector, reaching 413,155 copies, behind Good Housekeeping at 444,941 copies which also saw growth of 10 per cent year-on-year.

The highest circulation was set by free title the John Lewis Edition at 476,180 copies, with Asos.com – also a free title linked to a retail chain – following behind at 453,325 copies.

Red, Elle UK, Women’s Health, Harper’s Bazaar and Tatler were the only other paid-for titles to record year-on-year growth.

The biggest decline was seen by Look magazine, which dropped 30 per cent compared with the same period last year to 91,902 copies.

Glamour magazine fell by 19 per cent to 300,063 copies while Grazia and Marie Claire both recorded a year-on-year falls of more than 11 per cent.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

UK magazine sales for first half of 2016 (source ABC)

Combined print/digital edition circulation, percentage year on year change and percentage paid-for

Title Total ciculation YoY% change % print circulation paid-for
John Lewis Edition 476,180 -2.7 Free
ASOS.com 453,325 -2.7 Free
Good Housekeeping 444,941 10.1 85.9
Cosmopolitan 413,155 59.9 75.1
Stylist 404,408 0.3 Free
Woman & Home 315,582 -4.5 97.9
Glamour 300,063 -18.9 94.9
Prima 258,214 -2.2 90.4
Yours 257,349 -5.6 92
HELLO! 253,253 -3.1 94.7
Vogue 195,053 -2.5 85.7
Red 193,872 2.7 81.9
Elle (U.K.) 171,874 4.7 63.3
Marie Claire 165,362 -11.1 85.4
Women’s Health 128,253 2.8 85.3
Grazia 127,109 -11.6 93.6
Instyle UK 123,076 -18 68.5
Harpers Bazaar 110,710 4.4 48.1
Candis 105,796 -13.2 99.4
Look 91,902 -30.3 88.9
Tatler 84,515 0.2 58.8
Vanity Fair 80,083 -9 71
Essentials 79,246 -23.9 99.9
HELLO! Fashion Monthly 66,143 -27.4 99.9
WM The Womans Magazine 21,176 8.3 Free

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network