A SHARP decline in consumer spending in the first half of this year has had a significant impact on newspaper sales in the Republic, with most titles recording a decline in their circulation, figures published yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) showed.
The Irish Timesachieved a circulation of 114,488 between January and June 2009, a decline of 3.2 per cent or 3,771 copies a day on the same period of last year.
The ABC audit shows that 92.9 per cent of The Irish Timescopies were "actively purchased" with the rest representing reduced-price sales.
The figure for The Irish Timesincluded a circulation of 4,001 in Northern Ireland and 5,732 in other markets.
The other daily newspapers in the Republic all recorded a steeper decline in their circulations.
The Irish Independenthad an average circulation of 152,204 during the first six months of this year. This represented a year-on-year decline of 7,159 or 4.5 per cent. Its actively purchased percentage was 87.3 per cent. The Irish Independent's circulation in Northern Ireland was 2,070, with 8,467 in other markets.
The compact edition of the Irish Independentaccounted for 95,902 copies of its circulation while the broadsheet represented 56,302. This is broadly the same split as a year ago.
The Evening Herald, which is also owned by Independent News Media, continues to lose sales, according to the ABC figures. The paper had an average circulation of 71,187 copies between Monday and Friday, down 10.4 per cent year on year or 8,260 copies a day. Its Saturday title had a figure of 41,903, down 9 per cent.
The Cork-based Irish Examinersaw its circulation decline by 7.1 per cent or 3,845 copies a day to 50,346. Its sister title, the Evening Echo, posted a 6.3 per cent decline year on year at 24,192.
All the figures were included in ABC’s Island of Ireland report. The Irish report does not include British newspapers that are sold here. Those figures are produced monthly by ABC in the UK.
Between January and the end of June, all of the British red-top tabloids saw their sales decline. The Star's circulation fell by 6.3 per cent to 95,613 while the Sunwas 6.7 per cent off at 96,725. The Mirror's circulation declined by just more than 9 per cent to 6,488.
The biggest fall among the British daily papers was recorded by the Daily Mail, which lost 7,514 copies a day or 12.6 per cent to close the period with an average daily circulation of 51,929.
While all of the daily newspapers operating here recorded a decline in their circulation, the picture among the Sunday titles was somewhat different.
Both the Sunday Worldand the Sunday Independent– the two biggest sellers in the market – saw their circulations decline but the Sunday Business Postand the Sunday Timesposted increases.
The Sunday Worldwas 5 per cent off at 277,504 although it remains the biggest-selling title on that day.
The Sunday Independenthad a circulation of 272,174 in the first six months of the year. This was down 3.8 per cent on the 283,024 it posted in the first half of 2008.
The biggest winner among the weekend titles was the Sunday Times, which recorded a 10.3 per cent rise in its circulation to 116,541.
The Sunday Business Post, which is owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings in Cork, also performed well, increasing its weekly circulation by 1,812 copies or 3.2 per cent to 57,783.
The Sunday Tribune'scirculation was static at 65,727 while the Mail on Sundaywas flat at 113,843.
Among the specialist titles, the Farmers Journalincreased its circulation by 2.4 per cent to 71,084. This was the sixth period in a row that the Journalhad a rise in sales.
