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National ABCs: FT circulation in UK & Ireland down 14%

By Oliver Luft

The Financial Times recorded a year on year circulation fall of more than 14 per cent in England and Ireland last month as all quality daily papers suffered declines.

Total circulation of the FT, which sells most of its copies abroad, was 395,845 in August, down 5.2 per cent year on year.

Circulation in the UK and Ireland for the FT averaged 109,745 each day last month, down from an average circulation of 127,993 copies a day in August, 2008 – a fall of 14.3 per cent.

The paper sold 136,397 copies in the US, 113,580 of the European edition and 36,122 of the Asian edition last month, according to data released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

A spokesman for the FT said: “The circulation fall partly reflects efforts to reduce low-yielding bulk copies and FT circulation revenues actually increased in the first half as a result of this strategy.”

Bulks sales of the FT in the UK and Ireland – copies that readers can pick up free from hotels, airlines and gyms, which pay a nominal fee to the publisher – were 30,576 last month, a drop of more than 5,000 from the same month in August last year.

In August last year the FT had a weekday cover price of £1.50 which it raised to £1.80 in November then again to £2 in April this year.

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The FT wasn’t alone in registering a fall in its circulation. Every daily quality national newspaper lost circulation in August.

The biggest drop year-on-year amongst the daily quality papers was the Independent which recorded an 18.3 per cent fall to 187,837 to continue its downward spiral. Of this 39,286 were bulk sales.

Guardian News and Media’s Guardian newspaper recorded an daily average circulation of 311,387 copies – a 6.37 per cent decline on August 2008. However, last year’s figure included 14,449 bulks copies.

The publisher of the Guardian announced last month that it was stopping the sale of bulk copies of its Guardian and Observer titles. This month’s ABC figure reflects it removing its bulk sale from its total circulation.

Circulation of the Times fell six per cent year on year to 576,185. The Times sold 46,439 copies as bulks.

The Daily Telegraph sold an average of 814,087 copies in August, a 5.4 fall year on year. The paper’s sale was made up of 91,443 bulks.

National newspaper circulation, August 2009 (source ABC)

Daily quality papers:

Daily Telegraph: 814,087, down 5.4 per cent

Financial Times: 395,845, down 5.2 per cent

The Guardian: 311,387, down 6.4 per cent

The Independent: 187,837, down 18.3 per cent

The Times: 576,185, down 6.0 per cent

Daily Sunday papers:

Independent on Sunday: 160,809, down 18.3 per cent

The Observer: 361,761, down 12 per cent

The Sunday Telegraph: 599,131, down 3.1 per cent

The Sunday Times: 1,164,831, down 0.72 per cent

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