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November 14, 2019updated 30 Sep 2022 8:34am

National newspaper ABCs: Guardian and Observer see smallest circulation drop among paid-for titles

By Charlotte Tobitt

The Guardian and Observer saw the smallest drops in circulation among paid-for UK national newspapers last month as Reach’s Sunday titles took a hit, according to the latest ABC figures.

The sister titles both saw their circulation fall by five per cent year-on-year in October – the Guardian to a circulation of 128,492 and the Observer to 160,068.

The Guardian today revealed its biggest-selling weekday editions in October included splashes on Boris Johnson revealing his Brexit plan (3 October), the snap election announcement (30 October), and the 20 firms behind a third of global carbon emissions (10 October).

Behind them were the Daily Mail, Daily Express and Financial Times, which all saw a seven per cent year-on-year circulation drop.

Free newspapers City AM, Metro and the Evening Standard continued to see the smallest readership declines.

The Daily Star on Sunday, Sunday People and Sunday Post were the worst-performing titles, both falling year-on-year by 18 per cent, followed by the Daily Star, Sunday Mirror and Sunday Mail all losing 16 per cent.

All are owned by Reach, except for the DC Thomson-owned Sunday Post.

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National newspaper circulations for October 2019 (ABC):

Publication Total average circ. Oct 2019 Year-on-year % change Bulks
Metro FREE 1,420,796 -2%
The Sun 1,223,771 -13% 66,859
Daily Mail 1,136,247 -7%
The Sun on Sunday 1,042,909 -13% 66,861
The Mail on Sunday 959,671 -8%
London Evening Standard FREE 826,064 -4%
The Sunday Times 655,618 -9% 51,148
Daily Mirror 463,256 -13%
Sunday Mirror 378,239 -16%
The Times 367,074 -13% 54,029
The Daily Telegraph 308,015 -14%
Daily Express 302,690 -7% 11
Daily Star 292,395 -16% 181
Sunday Express 260,823 -8% 15
The Sunday Telegraph 246,797 -13%
i 221,083 -8% 48,330
Daily Star – Sunday 174,309 -18%
Financial Times 168,958 -7% 30,992
The Observer 160,068 -5%
Sunday People 144,832 -18%
The Guardian 128,492 -5%
Daily Record 107,499 -12%
Sunday Mail 106,523 -16%
Sunday Post 90,510 -18% 538
City AM FREE 86,084 0%

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