Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Upward sales trend for world newspapers ...

Worldwide sales of newspapers increased slightly in 2005. Their advertising revenues rose more sharply as the industry resisted competition from other media.
This is according to a report released Monday by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). "Overall, the audience for newspapers keeps on growing, both in print and online," said Timothy Balding, chief executive officer of the Paris-based WAN. "Newspapers are increasing their reach through the exploitation of a wide range of new distribution channels, ranging from daily free newspapers to online editions. They are proving to be incredibly resilient against the onslaught of a wide range of media competition," he said. The report was released to delegates attending the 59th World Newspaper Congress and 13th World Editors Forum in Moscow, Russia. Among the main points in the report are:
- 439 million newspapers are sold every day, against 414 million in 2001, while more than one billion people read a newspaper.
- The five biggest markets for newspapers are China (96.6 million sold every day), India (78.7 million) Japan (69.7 million), the United States (53.3 million) and Germany (21.5 million).
Other highlights of the report are listed in an on-line news report World Press Trends: Newspaper Circulation, Advertising Increases .