According to the latest ABC results the title has increased sales year on year.

Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, said: “It’s amazing… 30 years ago we had a Conservative female Prime Minister, the Labour party was in a mess and we had a TV star who ended up as the US President – how times have changed.”

Combined print and digital circulation for the UK edition of The Economist also grew 3.7% year on year, to 236, 342.

The title now has 95.1% paid-for sales.

Chief marketing officer at The Economist, Michael Brunt, said: “This impressive growth in paid subscriptions demonstrates that demand for quality journalism is on the rise in a world overshadowed by low-quality free content.

“The Economist remains at the forefront of this trend by consistently creating and distributing trusted insight and analysis to a globally curious audience.”