India, world's 2nd largest newspaper market

Looks like more people in Asia read newspapers than in the rest of the world. Guess which is the country with the largest number of newspapers? China. And No.2? India. No. 3? Japan. Seventy-four of the world's 100 best-selling dailies are published in Asia. India, China and Japan account for 62 of them.

According to latest research by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the four largest markets for newspapers are: China, with 107 million copies sold daily; India, with 99 million copies daily; Japan, with 68 million copies daily; and the United States, with nearly 51 million.

Growing literacy and new technology have resulted in India emerging as the second largest newspaper market in the world. Indian newspaper sales increased 11.2 per cent in 2007 and 35.51 per cent in the five year period. Newspaper advertising revenues in India were up 64.8 per cent over the previous 5 years.

The research found that newspapers are facing hard times, but circulations worldwide increased by 2.57 per cent in 2007, taking global daily sales to a new high of over 532 million copies.

The global paid-for circulation rose 2.57 per cent year on year and 9.39 per cent over the past five years. However, when free dailies were added to paid-for daily circulation, global circulation increased by 3.65 per cent year on year to 573 million copies.

Free dailies now account for nearly 7 per cent of all global newspaper circulation. Print remains the world's largest advertising medium, with a 40 per cent share.

Timothy Balding, chief executive officer of WAN said "Newspaper circulation has been rising or stable in three-quarters of the world's countries over the past five years and in nearly 80 per cent of countries in the past year. And even in places where paid-for circulation is declining, notably the US and some countries in western Europe, newspapers continue to extend their reach through a wide variety of free and niche publications."

WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. For more on WAN, visit http://www.wan-press.org/index.php3