August newspaper sales growth continues for a third year

August’s yearly uplift continued for another year, with all three national newspaper categories showing month-on-month increases.

According to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the daily, Saturday and Sunday newspaper sectors had an average growth of 0.4% between July and August. 

Saturday’s Daily Star saw the biggest increase of any edition at 2.6%, but Saturday’s Daily Record, The Sun and i all experienced a 1.4% uplift in circulation. Saturday’s Daily Mail was the best-selling newspaper, with 1.8m copies moved. 

A Mail Newspapers spokesperson attributed the success to the company’s promotions and the one-year anniversary of the MyMail reward scheme. Chief marketing officer Roland Agambar said this remains an integral part of its strategy. 

Daily titles also performed well, with seven titles seeing month-on-month increases. The Daily Record led with a 2.4% uplift, followed closely by The Sun at 1.6%. 

The performance of Sunday titles was the weakest of all categories, but still achieved an average positive growth of 0.1% month on month.

The Mail on Sunday and The Sun enjoyed the greatest uplift at 1.4%, with the Sunday Express following close behind with a 1% rise. 

Express head of circulation Paul Goddard said: “We always get a seasonal spike due to the holiday habits of readership.” 

Meanwhile, year-on-year results continue to drop, averaging -8.4% across all categories.

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