ABC circulation figures for September show tumbling circulations, with only the Financial Times (FT) successful in bucking the trend.

Year-on-year falls were exacerbated by the sales boost delivered by the death of Queen Elizabeth II this time last year, but overall circulation of weekday titles also fell by 2.2% month on month from August to September.

Saturday circulation fell by 1.9%, and Sunday by 2%. This continues the trend of Saturdays outperforming other days of the week, but represents a significant increase in the rate of decline since August, which saw weekday sales falling by 0.7%, Saturdays 0.3% and Sundays 1%.

“With sales usually declining, you think it’s business as usual, but it’s been really steep lately,” said Prinal Patel, of Raj’s Premier Store on the Isle of Wight. “The Sun’s gone down dramatically the past couple of months. The only titles I’ve sold out of at all are The Guardian and The Times.”

The FT was the only title to avoid declining sales, with a boost of 15.5% on weekdays and 7.3% on weekends from August to September.

The i continued its impressive performance year on year, with iWeekend the only title on any day to drop in circulation by less than 10%.

Janet White, FT global print director, told Better Retailing: “Strong retail sales and a number of subscribers resuming their subscription deliveries after the summer period contributed to our latest month-onmonth circulation growth.

“Year on year, we’re seeing stability across core sales in all markets.”

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