Magazine Sales Statistics

  • Global revenue from magazines and newspapers (print and digital) totalled $165.80 billion as of 2023.
  • Of this, print revenues made up $127.20 billion (76.72%). This is expected to drop 13.05% to $110.60 billion by 2027.
  • However, digital revenues made up $38.60 billion (23.28%). This is expected to grow 11.37% to $42.99 billion by 2027.
  • Between 2019 and 2022, total audiences for magazine companies have decreased by 38.56%.
  • Audiences for print/digital formats have decreased by 37.88%.
  • Audiences for mobile web formats have decreased by 28.33%.
  • As of 2021, the total number of adults that read magazines was 222.2 million across both print and digital.
  • This has increased by 5.46% since 2012’s 210.7 million readers.
  • The top 50 US magazines had a total of 123.67 million subscriptions as of 2021.
  • Of this figure, subscriptions to print made up 94.08%.

US magazine audiences by format

  • As of 2022, the most popular audience format for US magazines was mobile web (47.72%). 
  • The mobile web format decreased by 3.51% over the previous year.
  • The second-most popular format was print/digital (42.28%)
  • The print/digital format decreased by 3.12% over the previous year.
  • Web and video formats combined made up 10.00%.
YearMobile webPrint/DigitalWebVideoTotal
2022488.69 (47.72%)433.00 (42.28%)80.63 (7.87%)21.82 (2.13%)1,024.14
2021506.46 (44.92%)446.94 (39.64%)103.20 (9.15%)70.83 (6.28%)1,127.43
2020577.83 (40.61%)540.14 (37.96%)147.21 (10.35%)157.61 (11.08%)1,422.79
2019663.33 (39.80%)697.02 (41.82%)143.57 (8.61%)162.94 (9.78%)1,666.86
(Q4 YTD averages, figures in millions)

A graph is given below to show US magazine audiences by format:

Highest circulated US magazines

  • As of 2022, AARP The Magazine (1st) had the highest average circulation at 22.68 million.
  • Over the period, its circulation has decreased by 6.36%.
  • AARP Bulletin (2nd) had an average circulation of 22.56 million.
  • Over the period, its circulation has decreased by 3.55%.
  • Costco Connection (3rd) had an average circulation of 15.68 million.
#Publication20182019202020212022Change
1AARP The Magazine24.22 23.71 23.30 22.89 22.68 – 6.36%
2AARP Bulletin23.39 23.12 22.54 22.57 22.56 – 3.55%
3Costco Connection13.07 14.12 14.90 15.89 15.68 + 19.97%
4American Mainstreet9.40 9.33 10.03 10.11 10.11 + 7.55%
5Better Homes and Gardens7.63 7.65 7.62 7.61 4.21– 44.82%
(average 6-month circulation, figures in millions)

A graph is given below to show the highest circulated US magazines:

Subscriptions of top 50 US magazines

  • As of 2021, the top 50 US magazines had a total of 123.67 million subscriptions.
  • Of this figure, print subscriptions made up 94.08%.
  • Over the period, print subscriptions decreased by 6.99%.
  • Digital subscriptions made up 5.92%.
  • Over the period, digital subscriptions increased by 69.84%.
YearPrint subscriptionsChangeDigital subscriptionsChange
2021116.35 million– 3.42%7.32 million+ 30.25%
2020120.47 million– 3.70%5.62 million+ 30.39%
2019125.10 million4.31 million
(data from first half 2021)

A graph is given below to show subscriptions of top 50 US magazines by type:

Magazine sales in Europe

  • In Western Europe, consumer magazine print circulation revenues decreased from $17.4 billion (2011) to $14 billion (2016).
  • In the UK, nearly a third of adults read print magazines at least once a week as of 2017.
  • However, only 19% read digital magazines at least once a week.
  • In terms of UK print magazine revenues, weekly TV magazines made up the largest share at 26.9%.
  • In Spain, magazine reading penetration has dropped to 22% as of 2021 from over 50% in 2013.
  • In France, daily average time spent reading magazines per capita dropped from 25 minutes (2010) to 23.8 minutes (2016). 
  • In Germany, between 2013 and 2016 the number of people that stated they read magazines multiple times per week decreased by more than 4 million.

Magazine sales statistics FAQ

How do magazine companies look to increase sales?

  • Although there are many factors that can influence sales figures, there are some common techniques that magazine companies to increase sales:
    • Improvement of cover designs to encourage more consumers to purchase magazines off-the-shelf.
    • Expansion of magazines into different geographic regions to target a larger target audience.
    • Development of digital, including social media, video, mobile and web adaptations.
    • Incentives such as coupons, gifts and reduced subscription prices.