Nationals drop by double digit per cent in circulation this year

National papers lost out year on year in July.

Most national newspapers suffered double digit percentage sales losses year on year in July.

The i was the only title to increase sales year on year, mainly due to the affect of taking over The Independent’s bulk distribution copies. This also largely explains The Independent’s sharp 52.3 per cent year on year circulation decline.

The i’s paid-for sale in July was 215,664 with an additional 64,458 free bulk distribution copies.

Excluding i and The Independent, the average rate of circulation decline among the national dailies was around 11 per cent. This suggests that the rate of print circulation decline for the national press is accelerating.

The Guardian was the worst performing title on paid-for sales, which dropped 15.9 per cent to 209,354. According to The Guardian, the year-on-year comparison is exagerrated by strong sales in July 2011 helped by the paper’s phone-hacking revelations.

The FT’s worldwide print circulation dropped 13.6 per cent to 290,765 of which some 58,989 on average a day were sold in the UK.

For the Sundays year on year comparisons were exaggerated by the affect of the closure of the News of the World at the start of July 2011 – which boosted the sales of surviving titles that month.

The Sun Sunday maintained its position as the top-selling Sunday title dropping 1.5 per cent month on month to 2,157,482 copies a week. At 50p, it continues to be at least half the price of most of its competitors.

National daily newspaper print sales for July 2012 (source ABC)

National dailies: