Statistics unveiled at the World Newspaper Congress in Istanbul reveal that Ireland and the UK faced the brunt of a global downturn in newspaper circulation during 2003.
Representing a European Union nadir, Ireland saw a decrease of 7.8% while UK sales fell by 4.7%. Germany and France experienced moderate falls of 3% and 1.5 % respectively, whereas Belgium and Spain registered increases of 0.1% and 0.2%. Worldwide circulation fell 0.12%.
In terms of advertising revenue, however, UK titles grew 0.7% in 2003 -- and 7.3% since 1998. Yet compared to last year's 2.2% worldwide growth rate, British newspapers lagged the field
Despite these seemingly gloomy numbers, the newspaper industry remains a solid second behind television in the world advertising market.
Data sourced from: MediaGuardian.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
