Global Newspaper Revenues: Circulation Overtakes Advertising

Globally, revenues from newspaper circulation exceeded advertising revenues last year for the first time this century, according to the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in its latest annual World Press Trends survey.

Of the estimated US $179 billion in circulation and advertising revenue generated last year, $92 billion derived from print and digital circulation compared with $87 billion for advertising.

The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) has previously detailed a shifting revenue mix for newspapers in the US, though advertising had remained the dominant source of revenues at the time.

The data shows that print circulation revenues grew by 6.4% in 2014 and has increased by 16.4% over 5 years. However, print advertising spending declined by 5.2% year-over-year and by 17.5% over the 5-year period.

The report indicates a wide disparity in newspapers’ fortunes when sorting by region:

North America

Print circulation was down by 1.3% year-over-year, and by 8.8% over 5 years.

Print ad revenues were down by 7.5% year-over-year, and by 28.2% over 5 years.

Europe

Print circulation decreased by 4.5% year-over-year, and by 21.3% over 5 years.

Print ad revenues declined by 5% year-over-year, and by 23.1% over 5 years.

Asia-Pacific Region

Print circulation was up by 9.8% year-over-year in Asia, and by 32.7% over 5 years, largely on the back of large increases in India.

Print circulation declined by 5.3% year-over-year in Australia and Oceania, and by 22.3% over 5 years.

Print ad revenues were down 6.5% year-over-year in Asia and the Pacific, and declined by 7.3% over 5 years.

Latin America

Print circulation increased by 0.6% year-over-year, and by ~3% over 5 years.

Print ad revenues grew by 4.9% year-over-year, and by 27.7% over 5 years.

Middle East and Africa

Print circulation rose by 1.2% year-over-year, and by 3.7% over 5 years.

Print ad revenues grew by 2.2% year-over-year, but declined by 22.1% over 5 years.

Other Findings:

  • Globally, some 93% of newspaper revenues are derived from print;
  • While newspapers’ digital ad revenues aren’t expected to overtake print ad revenues, they grew by 8.5% in 2015 and by nearly 60% over 5 years;
  • Paid digital circulation increased by 56% year-over-year and by more than 1,420% over the past 5 years, says WAN-IFRA citing PricewaterhouseCoopers data, though this growth has been from a small base; and
  • Roughly 2.7 billion people globally read print newspapers, and more than 770 million read them on desktop digital platforms.

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