Newspaper Circulation Up 1.3% Worldwide in 2008

Despite the global financial crisis, newspaper circulation grew 1.3% worldwide in 2008, according to data compiled Gavin O’Reilly, president of the World Association of Newspapers. Nearly 1.9 billion people read a paid daily newspaper, reaching 41% more adults than the Internet. The data was presented in May 2009 at the World Association of Newspapers Power of Print Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Other significant findings include:

Although North America, Australia, and Europe saw newspaper circulation decline by 3.7%, 2.5%, and 1.8% respectively, other markets saw large increases. Circulation increased by 6.9% in Africa, by 2.9% in Asia, and 1.8% in South America.

In the United States, combined print and online newspaper audience grew 8%. Some 52% of online newspaper readers said they spend the same amount of time as they did previously with newspaper content, 35% say they spend more time overall with newspaper content, and 81% of online newspaper readers say they've read a printed newspaper in the same week.

For the full summary of findings, visit the Center for Media Research.

--Compiled by Jenn Bollenbacher, Citizenship Program Intern