Newspaper advertising revenues are finally on the upswing as the world economy recovers, says the latest annual survey of World Press Trends.
The survey conducted by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), shows that although the outlook for advertising revenues was more positive during 2003 when it grew by 2%, global newspaper circulation declined by 0.12%.
The survey results announced during the 57th World Newspaper Forum, revealed that newspaper websites have doubled since 1999, while the global internet advertising market topped $10 billion in 2003 and continues to grow steadily.
The global number of free dailies has also grown dramatically over the past year rising by 16%, with free newspaper advertising revenues increasing by 1.5%.
WAN director general, Timothy Balding said: “2003 was yet another year of great changes and challenges for newspapers. The pressures on the circulation of newspapers continued, but newspapers showed a greater willingness than ever before to innovate and experiment with strategies to win new readers.”
Europe
In Europe, 13 of the 15 countries included in the survey, reported circulation losses during 2003, falling by 2.2% year on year, representing a loss of over 1.4 million daily sales from 2002 to 2003. On the other hand, Spain and Belgium saw a very slight growth in circulation figures, rising 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.
The highest circulation loss was reported by Ireland and the United Kingdom, falling 7.8% and 4.7% respectively, followed by Portugal with a 4.03% downturn.
Although circulation dropped, advertising revenue experienced a slight recovery, growing by 2% for the 15 European countries with Greece reporting the highest growth of 54.3%, followed by Belgium with 16.7%, then the Netherlands with 14.2%. The UK newspaper advertising market looked pale in comparison, with an increase of only 0.7%.
United States
The circulation of US dailies remained stable in 2003, says the study, falling by 1.42% over the last five years. The US newspaper advertising market accounts for 57% of the world’s advertising share for dailies and grew by 1.9%.
China and Japan
China has the largest total daily circulation of any country in the world with more than 85 million copies sold, growing by 4.17% year on year, with advertising revenues increasing by 11.7%.
Japan is home to 20 of the world’s 100 largest newspapers in terms of circulation, but saw newspaper sales fall by 0.67%.
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