Newspaper Sales Statistics

For print newspaper and magazines globally, revenue is expected to drop 13.05% from 2023’s $127.20 billion to $110.60 billion by 2027.
Contrasting this, global digital newspaper and magazine revenue is expected to grow 11.37% from 2023’s $38.60 billion to $42.99 billion by 2027.
In the US, more than 124 million adults read published newspaper media each week as of 2018.
70% of households with an income that exceeds $100,000 are readers of newspapers.
73% of US consumers have confidence in their local newspaper.
As of 2016, 9 of the top 10 global newspapers ranked by circulation were Asian newspapers.
Between 2005 and 2021, approximately 2,200 US local print newspapers closed down.
This amounts to around just under 130 closures per year.
In terms of employment, the amount of US newspaper journalists dropped by more than 50% between 2008 and 2020.
Large media corporations now own 80% of all daily newspapers.

Largest US daily newspapers by estimated annual print circulation

For the given data, the Wall Street Journal has the highest annual print circulation in the US at 254.58 million.
The Wall Street Journal’s annual print circulation is more than double the size of the next largest, The New York Times 120.37 million.
Again, The New York Times’ annual circulation is more than double that of the next largest newspaper, USA Today.
USA Today and Washington Post rank 3rd and 4th and have similar annual circulations, 58.12 million and 58.05 million respectively.
The fifth largest publication is The New York Post with an annual circulation of 53.53 million.

(figures estimated using average weekday circulation figures)

A graph is given below to show the largest US daily newspapers by their estimated annual print circulation:

As of 2020, the total estimated circulation of US daily newspapers for weekdays was 24.30 million.
Over the given 5-year period, weekday circulation dropped by 29.89%.
As of 2020, the total estimated circulation of US daily newspapers for Sundays was 25.79 million.
Over the given 5-year period, Sunday circulation dropped by 31.77%.
All circulation figures decreased year-on-year throughout the period.

Year	Weekday circulation (millions)	Change	Sunday circulation (millions)	Change
2020	24.30	– 6.36%	25.79	– 5.84%
2019	25.95	– 9.11%	27.39	– 11.13%
2018	28.55	– 7.75%	30.82	– 9.27%
2017	30.95	– 10.70%	33.97	– 10.13%
2016	34.66		37.80

(print and digital)

A graph is given below to show the total estimated circulation of US daily newspapers:

As of 2020, the total circulation revenue of the US newspaper industry was $9.60 billion.
Over the given 5-year period, circulation revenue dropped by 47.45%.
As of 2020, the total advertising revenue of the US newspaper industry was $11.05 billion.
Over the given 5-year period, advertising revenue increased by 1.28%.
Circulation revenue figures decreased year-on-year whereas advertising revenue remained mostly stable throughout the period.

Year	Circulation revenue (billions)	Change	Advertising revenue (billions)	Change
2020	$9.60	– 25.35%	$11.05	+ 0.27%
2019	$12.86	– 10.38%	$11.02	+ 0.18%
2018	$14.35	– 12.92%	$11.00	– 1.87%
2017	$16.48	– 9.80%	$11.21	+ 2.75%
2016	$18.27		$10.91

A graph is given below to show the total estimated revenue of the US newspaper industry:

As of 2022, for the given data the country with the highest percentage of its population paying for online news is Norway (41%).
The percentage of Norway’s population paying for online news is 8% higher than the next highest country.
33% of Sweden’s population (2nd) pay for online news.
22% of Hong Kong’s population (3rd) pay for online news.

A graph is given below to show the countries with the highest percentage of consumers paying for online news:

64% of readers that prefer print find that physical newspapers allow them to read more easily.
53% of print newspaper subscribers have held their subscription for 5+ years.
Printed newspapers are noted to be the primary source of information for 3% of US adults.
However, 25% of US adults aged 65+ still receive their news from print publications.
79% of elderly print subscribers believe it is unlikely they will switch over to digital.

As of 2022, 19% of news readers in the US paid for access to digital newspapers.
Most paid readers hold a subscription to their preferred print paper’s digital version.
Within the US, 39% of newspaper subscriptions were with The New York Times and 31% subscribed to The Washington Post as of 2020.
However, 30% chose to hold subscriptions to the digital version of their local paper.
64% of readers that have digital subscriptions do so for accessibility reasons.

91% of newspaper readers disclose that they take action after reading newspaper inserts.
79% of newspaper readers are influenced to take action within 30 days of reading a newspaper advert.
Print coupons given in newspapers are used by 82% of all consumers.
70% of people aged 18+ agree that newspapers are their preferred source for receiving coupons.
Consumers believe newspapers provide the best opportunities to be alerted to sales.

The increasing importance of the internet for search has decreased the need for consumers to purchase physical print newspapers.
Over time, this has caused advertising revenue to fall which has led to many newspapers reducing their numbers of employees.
These staff number reductions contribute to yet further circulation decreases and losses of revenue, causing problems for the industry.

Newspaper companies have mainly looked to focus on digital readership to find new sources of revenue. Their digital strategies include:
- Digital subscriptions to allow users to fully access their newspaper online.
- Social media to create new forms of content that can be monetized.
- Apps to host their news stories, encouraging membership and interactivity.
- Advertisements that drive users to their pages from around the web.

As of 2019, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun was credited as having the largest circulation in the world.
The newspaper is printed twice a day and also has several local editions.
As of 2021, its morning circulation was 7 million.