Global Newspaper Ad Revenues Fall 7% In 2001
Global newspaper advertising revenue fell by 7% in 2001 in real terms, with 57% of countries showing declines, according to the annual World Press Trends survey published by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) this week.
Advertising Although newspaper sales in the US have stabilised, 2001 was a tough year for US newspapers in terms of advertising revenue, which fell by 11.5%. In the European Union, 9 of the 15 countries showed declines in circulation and 8 of 15 reported declines in advertising revenue. Only three countries reported increases in advertising, according to the survey.
Elsewhere advertising revenues grew. In Japan, they were up 7.8% in 2001 and new information from China shows it to be a growing, dynamic newspaper market, with advertising revenue up 5.9% in 2001 and up 64.4% in the last five years, says WAN.
The breakdown for growth in European countries is shown in the graph below; data were unavailable from Portugal, Ireland, France and the United Kingdom, according to WAN.
In a five-year analysis, all but two countries showed rising advertising revenue; the declines occurred in Sweden (-6.6%) and Denmark (-12.5%).
Market share In terms of market share, newspapers take nearly a third of global advertising (32.9%). In the key North American, European and Asia-Pacific markets, newspaper advertising share is a remarkably similar at 33.0%.
The newspaper advertising market share was stable year on year for the first time since 1987, arresting a downward trend for all regions except the Asia-Pacific, where the trend has been for newspapers to increase share.
Over five years, newspapers in 17 countries have taken a larger share of the advertising market: Brazil, China, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Portugal, South Korea, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
Classified advertising increased in 2001 over 2000, while display advertising decreased. Both categories grew significantly against 1999, says the report.
“Newspapers had a tough year in 2001 like all other industries,” said Timothy Balding, director general of WAN. “Advertising revenues took a pounding in most developed markets but apparently less so than other media. After 14 successive years of decline, newspaper share of advertising remained stable. The global picture of newspaper sales continues to show positive signs with another yearly increase.”