NEWSPAPER SALES fell in the second half of last year, with all Irish-published daily titles and most Sunday newspapers recording lower circulation.

Figures released yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) show that sales of The Irish Timesfell 3 per cent in July to December last year compared to the same period in 2007.

The circulation of The Irish Timesnow stands at 115,462, down 3,589 copies compared to 119,051 a year earlier.

The ABC’s Island of Ireland Report shows that the Irish Independent’s average circulation fell 3.9 per cent to 154,610, down 6,244 copies on the circulation of 160,854 recorded in the second half of 2007.

There was an even steeper decline in circulation at the Examiner, which fell 6.1 per cent to 52,544, down 3,404 copies year-on-year.

The number of "actively purchased" copies of The Irish Times, which excludes bulk sales and discounted copies, was 93.2 per cent.

The percentage of the Independent’s sales that are actively purchased fell to 85.7 per cent.

Among the evening dailies, the Evening Herald'scirculation dropped 8.7 per cent to 74,927, losing 7,157 copies, with its weekend edition falling 10.4 per cent to 44,014. Cork's Evening Echorecorded a circulation of 24,522, down 5.3 per cent.

Most Sunday newspapers included in the report also saw their circulation fall.

The Sunday Tribunewas down 4.8 per cent in July to December last year compared with the same period in 2007. Its circulation is now 66,672, compared to 70,058 a year earlier, a fall of 3,388 copies.

The Sunday Independent'scirculation fell 4.3 per cent year-on-year to 270,362, down 12,097 copies on the second half of 2007, when its circulation was 282,459.

The Sunday Business Postand the Sunday Worldbucked the trend of falling sales.

The circulation of the Sunday Business Postclimbed 2.1 per cent year-on-year to 54,993, a gain of 1,122 copies, although this was down slightly on its average circulation in the first half. The Sunday World'scirculation rose 0.5 per cent to 285,214.

Many weekly regional titles experienced sharp double-digit declines in their circulation year-on-year, the ABC figures show.

In Northern Ireland, sales of the Belfast Telegraphfell 8.1 per cent to 69,457.

The Island of Ireland Report does not include British newspapers that publish Irish editions.

These figures are published separately in Britain, where the latest data shows that the Irish edition of the Sun fell 6.9 per cent to 99,646, although it remained the best-selling daily tabloid.

The Star fell 6.6 per cent to 97,862 copies, while there was a heavy fall for the Irish edition of the Daily Mirror, which lost more than 10,000 copies to record a circulation of 71,950.

The Irish Daily Mail'scirculation has dropped substantially, with sales down 9.3 per cent year-on-year to 58,988.

The trading environment for the newspaper industry in 2009 is expected to be tough, with media advertising revenues likely to slide as advertiser budgets are curtailed by recession.

The latest circulation figures coincided with the introduction of a free Irish Timeswebsite at www.irishtimes.com.