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The definitive guide to the global newspaper industry, in numbers, trends and changes.
World Press Trends 2015: Facts and Figures
World Press Trends 2015: Facts and Figures
Global newspaper industry revenues
Circulation vs. advertising revenue
A profound shift in the newspaper business model, evolving for years, is finally here: global newspaper circulation revenues have surpassed newspaper advertising revenues, meaning that audiences have become publishers’ biggest source of revenue. In 2014, newspapers generated an estimated 179 billion dollars in circulation and advertising revenue. 92 billion came from print and digital circulation, while 87 billion came from advertising.
In most newspaper markets print advertising's share of overall revenue is declining, and this decline is forecast to continue. On the other hand, the positive aspect of this trend is that audiences worldwide continue to read and value news products, and most national news industries are finding ways to monetise this continued interest and commitment from audiences.
Print vs. digital revenue
While digital advertising represents a small part of overall newspaper revenue, it continues to grow significantly (8 per cent in 2014 and 59 per cent over five years). Also revenue from digital circulation is growing steadily, amounting now to over 20 per cent of newspapers' overall digital revenues. In 2014, paid digital circulation revenues increased 45 per cent.
Although newspapers' digital revenues continue to grow, print is still their main source of revenue: globally, over 93 per cent of all newspaper revenue comes from print, and print will continue to be a major source of revenue for many years to come.
Circulation
Global circulation and reach
While print circulations continue to decline in the west, global print circulation is growing steadily: print circulation increased over 6 per cent globally in 2014 from a year earlier and more than 16 per cent over five years. The increase is largely the result of circulation growth in India and elsewhere in Asia.
WAN-IFRA estimates that print newspapers reach around 2.7 billion people around the world. Furthermore, newspapers have a desktop digital audience of 0.8 billion people.
Circulation: regional trends
Globally, the trends within the news media industry are far from homogenous: while Asia, Africa, including the MENA region, and Latin America continue to enjoy growth in print audiences, mature newspaper markets are seeing continued declines in print circulation.
Top 10 paid-for dailies
| Title | Country | Language | Circulation (000) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Yomiuri Shimbun | Japan | Japanese | 9190 |
| 2 | The Asahi Shimbun | Japan | Japanese | 6809 |
| 3 | USA Today | USA | English | 4139 |
| 4 | Dainik Bhaskar | India | Hindi | 3557 |
| 5 | The Mainichi Newspapers | Japan | Japanese | 3360 |
| 6 | Cankao Xiaoxi | China | Chinese | 3073 |
| 7 | Dainik Jagran | India | Hindi | 3034 |
| 8 | The Times of India | India | English | 2891 |
| 9 | The Nikkei | Japan | Japanese | 2732 |
| 10 | People's Daily | China | Chinese | 2603 |
Digital Media Consumption
Paid digital circulation
Although digital circulation still represents a small part of newspapers' overall revenues, there is increasing evidence that audiences are more and more willing to pay for quality journalism also online.
Paid digital circulation revenues are increasing at a rapid rate: by 56 per cent in 2014, or more than 1,420 per cent over the last five years.
Hooked on mobile
News audiences are increasingly turning to mobile platforms, and for the first time, this is starting to replace desktop traffic: web usage data from comScore indicates that desktop audience numbers are falling as consumers spend more time with their smartphones.
According to comScore, the leading media properties now see 30 per cent or more of their online audiences coming exclusively from mobile platforms. Consequently, mobile advertising is rapidly growing and is expected to reach 52 billion dollars in revenue in 2017. There is a myriad of changes occurring as a result of increased smartphone usage and mobile internet growth. The shift to mobile is extremely important because it changes the way news is packaged, distributed, discovered and consumed.