Global Newspaper Circulation
and Advertising Trends in 2012

June
4, 2013 by MarketingCharts
staff

Newspaper circulation around the world dropped by only 0.9% in 2012,
as losses in North America and other regions were almost completely offset by
gains in Asia,according
to the latest
World Press Trends survey of the World Association of Newspapers and News
Publishers, which includes data from more than 90% of the global industry’s
value. The study shows that more than half of the world’s adults read a daily
newspaper, with 2.5 billion doing so in print and 600 million in digital. While
overall circulation figures were only down marginally, advertising spend fell by
2% in 2012, and by a more dramatic 22% since 2008.

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The
research reveals a rather wide variance in newspaper’s fortunes when sorting by
region:

§                         
North America

Circulation was down by 6.6% year-over-year, and by 13% since
2008.
Advertising revenues were down by 7.6% over 1 year and by 42.1% over
5.

§                         
Western Europe

Circulation declined by 5.3% over 1 year, and by 24.8% over 5.
Ad
revenues dropped by 3.4% year-over-year, and by 23.3% since
2008.

§                         
Eastern Europe

Circulation was down by 8.2% year-over-year, and by 27.4% since
2008.
Advertising revenues were down by 5.6% over 1 year and by 30.2% over
5.

§                         
Middle
East and North
Africa

Circulation dropped by 1.4% year-over-year, but increased by 10.5%
since 2008.
Advertising revenues increased by 2.3% over 1 year, but declined
by 22.7% over 5.

§                         
Asia

Circulation increased by 1.2% over 1 year, and by 9.8% over 5.
Ad
revenues were up by 3.6% year-over-year, and by 6.2% since
2008.

§                         
Australia and New
Zealand

Circulation was up by 3.5% year-over-year, and by 1% since
2008.
Advertising revenues were down by 8.3% over 1 year and by 24.9% over
5.

§                         
Latin America

Circulation increased marginally, by 0.1% over 1 year, but by a
larger 9.1% over 5.
Ad revenues were up by 9.1% year-over-year, and by 37.6%
since 2008.

The data
shows that newspaper advertising revenues have declined at a faster rate
globally than circulation. That’s primarily due to faster losses in the
US, where print advertising fell by
42% over the 5-year period, representing three-quarters of global losses. The
researchers attribute that large decline to “traditionally high dependence on
classified advertising,” which has now migrated
online.

Other
Findings:

§                         
Survey
respondents say that their biggest challenge is increasing audience engagement
on digital platforms. Although a majority of the digital population visits
newspaper websites, newspapers represent just a small fraction of total internet
consumption: 7% of visits; 1.3% of total time spent; and just 0.9% of page
visits.

§                         
In the
US. Germany and France, time
spent with news content on tablets is equal with time spent with the printed
newspaper, a fairly astounding result.

§                         
Packaging
of print and digital subscriptions appears to be performing well. Where data is
available, the research shows that single copy sales are down 26%, while
subscription sales are down 8%.