The biggest ever leap in readership was recorded during the US election.

12M unique browsers were recorded visiting The Independent's web and mobile sites on the day of the US.

This figure is up 12% on the previous record of 10.6M unique browsers, after the EU referendum.

This comes after The Independent's decision to invest in the US as a target market of growth.

The Independent's Facebook account also recorded huge numbers, with rmore than 120M users reached around the world in three and a half days.

Editor Christian Broughton, said: “I’m sure the election did not provide the result that the majority of our readers wanted, but this feels like the moment when The Independent truly found its voice in America.

"Whether they came from social media, via our growing US homepage, or through searches, readers found quality journalism that stood out and struck a chord, with passion and ideas shining bright in a news landscape obsessed with reporting identical breaking-news bulletins. It is a credit to the team that so much can be achieved from a modestly sized newsroom.”