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February 15, 2018updated 16 Feb 2018 9:46am

National newspaper print ABCs: Daily Star overtakes Daily Telegraph for first time in over a year + full figures for Jan

By Freddy Mayhew

The Daily Star’s print circulation has crept above that of the Daily Telegraph for the first time in more than a year, new ABC figures show.

The Star sold 391,988 copies in January 2018, down 12 per cent year-on-year, against the Telegraph’s 385,346 copies, down 18 per cent year-on-year.

The Star was last selling higher than the Telegraph in November 2016. The paper sells for 30p while the Telegraph has a cover price of £1.80.

The Times, which overtook the Telegraph’s print circulation for the first time ever last month, remains ahead of the broadsheet for January but only when bulk sales are included.

The Star, the Daily Star Sunday, Daily Express and Sunday Express are being sold to Trinity Mirror by current owners Northern & Shell in a £127m deal that is expected to be completed this month.

The Daily Mirror is the best-selling title within the newly expanded group, selling 583,192 copies in January.

But the tabloid, along with the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, recorded a year-on-year circulation drop of about 19.5 per cent in January (reflecting the publisher’s decision to strip out foreign and bulk sales).

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The Sunday Times saw its print circulation drop by 7 per cent year-on-year to 739,845 while the Times also fell by 2 per cent to 440,558.

The Guardian recorded a 2.6 per cent year-on-year fall in circulation to 152,714 last month, despite relaunching as a tabloid half way through it.

ABC national newspaper print circulation figures for January 2018 (and online figures below):

Publication Total print circulation (Jan 18) Year-on-year % change Bulks
The Sun 1,545,594 -7.27 120,891
Metro (Free) 1,475,372 -0.11
Daily Mail 1,343,142 -11.13
The Sun on Sunday 1,286,859 -6.45 121,256
The Mail on Sunday 1,106,067 -12.08
London Evening Standard (FREE) 888,017 0.09
The Sunday Times 739,845 -6.62 83,707
Daily Mirror 583,192 -19.55
Sunday Mirror 506,866 -19.45
The Times 440,558 -2.37 87,939
Daily Star 391,988 -11.61
The Daily Telegraph 385,346 -18.4
Daily Express 364,721 -7.08
Sunday Express 309,958 -7.69
The Sunday Telegraph 298,720 -16.88
i 257,223 -3.58 62,370
Daily Star – Sunday 236,631 -7.85
Sunday People 193,839 -19.52
Financial Times 189,579 0.35 27,942
The Observer 176,795 -4.82
The Guardian 152,714 -2.58
Sunday Mail 140,743 -16.31
Daily Record 134,087 -13.92
Sunday Post 123,393 -13.81 538
City AM (Free) 90,569 0.28

Web ABC figures for January 2018:

Website Total daily avg unique browsers
(Jan 18)
Month-on-month % change Year-on-year % change
Mail Online 13,738,436 10.51 -12.17
Trinity Mirror Group (Digital) 10,112,183 13.66 6.53
The Sun 5,273,610 6.36 24.15
The Independent 5,026,018 12.59 4.04
Metro 2,561,846 18.53 61.04
Evening Standard 944,143 27.35 42.01

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