The circulation of magazines fell on average by 5%, however digital circulation was up 21% YoY.

With newsstand in decline, more and more titles are turning to digital work, which is continuously increasing. However with only 90 audited for this period, it is still quite a small market.

ABC rules mean that for a digital app to be recognized as the same title it must be in 10% difference from the print edition, which with advertisement being more tricky in digital format, can cause much frustration for publishers. This means many publishers tend to prioritize bundle subscriptions instead of digital only. However as the latest ABC results show, people are increasingly choosing digital-only subscriptions.

The Economist lead the digital editions, despite losing 6% of print readers in Asia, and 4% for print globally over the year, the digital edition increased an impressive 225.8%. Helped by ‘Espresso’, their daily mobile app, which was launched earlier this year. Michael Brunt, CMO and MD of circulation at The Economist, said, “Our latest circulation numbers are in line with what we have seen over the last few years – a steady migration to digital”. This news comes following the announcement that The Economist will buy back its shares from part-owner Pearson, which recently sold the Financial Times to Nikkei Group.

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