The Sun enjoys post-Christmas sales bounce with 8.3% rise

The Sun and Sun on Sunday boosted their circulation by about 8% month on month in January, easily the best performers in a national newspaper market buoyed by a post-Christmas holiday seasonal sales bounce.

A total of 15 of 24 national daily and Sunday newspapers managed a month-on-month sales rise in January, with the Daily Mirror, Daily Star Sunday, Guardian and Daily Mail among those reporting circulation boosts.

News UK's redtop daily was the biggest gainer of all national titles with sales up 8.31% compared to December, pushing the newspaper well clear of the 2m mark, with an average circulation of 2,213,659 in January.

It is the biggest percentage rise in sales the Sun has enjoyed since January 2011, when the newspaper produced a 10.48% increase, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Sales were down 8.14% year on year.

The Sun on Sunday enjoyed nearly as a big boost in January, up 7.9% month on month to 1,800,830.

The rise is within a whisker of a News UK record, with the ABC only finding one month going back to 2000 when the publisher's Sunday tabloid has enjoyed a bigger monthly sales boost. This was in January 2006 when predecessor News of the World notched up a 7.98% sales rise.

Sales of the Sun on Sunday were down 10.44% year on year.

Rupert Murdoch's flagship tabloids added a combined 301,643 extra sales in January compared to December.

Sales were in part fuelled by the Sun's hugely popular annual £9.50 holiday deal, as well as an annual seasonal market bounce in January, however, it is nevertheless an impressive performance.

"Our success in the digital arena, combined with a series of fantastic scoops gives us great confidence for the rest of 2014," said David Dinsmore, editor of the Sun. The Sun recently revealed that it has more than 100,000 subscribers to its digital service Sun+

Dinsmore also pointed to news stories about Amir Khan's relationship and an interview with Jim Davidson, who won Celebrity Big Brother, as sales drivers.

Another big gainer in the daily market was the Daily Mirror, which rose 2.8% month on month to almost climb back above the 1 million mark after dipping below it for the first time in December.

In January, the Guardian reported its fifth monthly sales increase, up 2.41% to 207,958, a 1.72% year-on-year rise. The Daily Mail rose 2.27% month on month in January; while the 20p i was up 1.98%, compared to December and 1.47% year on year, and the Daily Telegraph grew 0.75% .

Even most of the monthly fallers in the daily market kept their declines to a bare minimum: the Times fell just 0.04% compared to December, and the Daily Star dipped 0.54%.

A total of nine out of the 12 Sunday nationals managed a month-on-month sales rise in January.

There were good showings from the Daily Star Sunday (up 2.66%), Sunday Mirror (1.53%), Sunday Telegraph (1.89%) and Observer (1.40%).

The only month-on-month fallers in the Sunday market were the Sunday People (down 1.36%), Sunday Express (down 0.62%) and the Independent on Sunday (down 0.94%).

Daily newspaper circulation figures

The Sun

Headline circulation: 2,213,659

Month-on-month change: +8.31%

Year-on-year change: -8.14%

Saturday edition: 2,570,467

Overseas: 17,632

Daily Mail

Headline circulation: 1,780,565

Month-on-month change: +2.27%

Year-on-year change: -4.43%

Saturday: 2,450,437

Overseas: 64,831

Bulks: 89,997

Total UK paid-for sale: 1,625,738 (91% of total)

Daily Mirror

Headline circulation: 992,256

Month-on-month change: +2.80%

Year-on-year change: -6.26%

Saturday: 1,187,666

Overseas: 27,253

Bulks: 30,000

Total UK paid-for sale: 935,003 (94% of total)

Daily Telegraph

Headline circulation: 544,546

Month-on-month change: +0.75%

Year-on-year change: -2.03%

Saturday: 715,049

Overseas: 11,987

Daily Express

Headline circulation: 500,473

Month-on-month change: -0.34%

Year-on-year change: -5.51%

Saturday: 567,367

Overseas: 10,734

Daily Star

Headline circulation: 489,067

Month-on-month change: -0.54%

Year-on-year change: -8.75%

Saturday: 446,097

Overseas: 4,365

The Times

Headline circulation: 384,304

Month-on-month change: -0.04%

Year-on-year change: -3.76%

Saturday: 466,591

Overseas: 17,309

Bulks: 19,405

Total UK paid-for sale: 347,590 (90.4% of total)

i

Headline circulation: 298,266

Month-on-month change: +1.98%

Year-on-year change: +1.47%

Saturday: 258,355

Bulks: 62,717

Total UK paid-for sale: 235,549 (78.9% of total)

Financial Times

Headline circulation: 234,193

Month-on-month change: -0.99%

Year-on-year change: -14.95%

Saturday: 100,782

Bulks: 24,020

UK total paid-for sale: 50,970 (21.7% of total)

The Guardian

Headline circulation: 207,958

Month-on-month change: +2.41%

Year-on-year change: +1.72%

Saturday: 365,170

The Independent

Headline circulation: 66,576

Month-on-month change: -1.03%

Year-on-year change: -13.31%

Saturday: 92,038

Overseas: 402

Bulks: 16,825

Total UK paid-for sale: 49,359 (74% of total)

Sunday newspaper circulation figures

Sunday Times

Headline circulation: 817,642

Month-on-month change: +0.63%

Year-on-year change: -7.67%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 772,819 (94.5% of total)

Overseas: 34,292

Bulks: 10,531

Sunday Telegraph

Headline circulation: 429,285

Month-on-month change: +1.89%

Year-on-year change: -1.32%

Overseas: 8,286

The Observer

Headline circulation: 225,474

Month-on-month change: +1.40%

Year-on-year change: +0.12%

Independent on Sunday

Headline circulation: 101,284

Month-on-month change: -0.94%

Year-on-year change: -11.39%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 48,419 (47% of total)

Overseas: 310

Bulks: 52,555

Sun on Sunday

Headline circulation: 1,800,830

Month-on-month change: +7.90%

Year-on-year change: -10.44%

Overseas: 18,381

Mail on Sunday

Headline circulation: 1,586,979

Month-on-month change: +1.04%

Year-on-year change: -7.50%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 1,438,786 (90.6% of total)

Overseas: 73,553

Bulks: 74,641

Sunday Mirror

Headline circulation: 948,754

Month-on-month change: +1.53%

Year-on-year change: -8.70%

Overseas: 14,195

Bulks: 30,000

Sunday Express

Headline circulation: 430,601

Month-on-month change: -0.62%

Year-on-year change: -8.70%

Overseas: 10,178

Sunday People

Headline circulation: 374,820

Month-on-month change: -1.36%

Year-on-year change: -12.66%

Overseas: 11,496

Daily Star Sunday

Headline circulation: 310,063

Month-on-month change: +2.66%

Year-on-year change: -10.36%

Headline circulation includes lesser rate sales, subscriptions, bulks – copies sold to airlines, rail companies, hotels and gyms for a nominal fee and given free to the public – and distribution in Ireland and overseas. UK and Ireland paid-for circulation excludes bulks and overseas distribution; where this figure is not given, bulks and overseas distribution account for less than 5% of total circulation

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