The number of daily titles increased in 28 countries in 2000, remained unchanged in 14 and decreased in 14. For comparison, in 1996 the number of dailies rose in 14 countries and fell in 16 countries.

In the European Union, where circulation has been slipping for many years, the global sales loss was 0.4 percent, which is half the readjusted figure of 0.8 percent for 1999.

Over the past five years, newspaper sales in the EU have fallen 2.5 percent, representing 2.06 million less newspaper buyers in the European Union in 2000 than in 1996.

At the same time, newspaper readership in Western Europe actually increased last year by more than 1 percentage point: 62.1 percent of all European adults read a daily newspaper.

National figures show daily circulation increase in eight EU countries in 2000:
Portugal +5.6 percent; United Kingdom +2.4 percent; Spain +2.3 percent; Italy +2.1 percent; Ireland +1.0 percent; France +1.0 percent (nationals); Greece +0.7 percent; Belgium +0.2 percent.

Ireland increased circulation for the fourth year in succession and Italy for the third consecutive year.

Daily circulation declined in seven of the 15 EU member countries: Austria –13.6 percent; Denmark –3.1 percent Luxembourg –2.9 percent; Germany –2.5 percent; Finland –1.2 percent; Netherlands –0.8 percent; Sweden –0.6 percent.

In Denmark, Finland and Germany, the rate of decline accelerated over 1999, but it slowed in the Netherlands and Sweden. Gains in 1999 in Austria and Luxembourg turned to losses last year.

Over the five years, 1996 to 2000, circulation declined in 9 of the 15 EU countries:
sales were down 11 percent in Luxembourg; -10.2 percent in Greece; -9.2 percent in Denmark; -6.5 percent in the Netherlands; -5.9 percent in Germany; -4.5 percent in Sweden; -3.3 percent in Belgium; -2.8 percent in the United Kingdom; –1.3 percent in Finland.

Six countries increased circulation over the five-year period:
Portugal (+12.5 percent), Ireland (+5.2 percent), Spain (+5.2 percent), Austria (+5 percent), Italy (2.4 percent) and France (+1.0 percent).

The number of daily titles published in the EU has fallen, but only slightly – from 1,135 to 1,120 – in the past five years. Average circulation per title has remained stable at 72,000.

Elsewhere in Western Europe, Norway reported a 0.5 percent drop in sales, Iceland had a fall in circulation of 1.0 percent and Switzerland a modest decrease of –0.5 percent.

The picture for dailies in Eastern and Central Europe was mixed: Circulation rose in Croatia (+11 percent) and in Bulgaria (+3.7 percent), but was down -3.4 percent in the Czech Republic and –2 percent in Hungary.

In Russia, sales of newspapers continued to climb in 2000 and were up a further 5 percent after an increase of 4.4 percent in 1999. The latest estimate puts at 2,635 the number of dailies published in Russia, by far the highest in any national market in the world; 171 of these are national titles..

The circulation of dailies in the United States remained virtually stable in 2000, with a very slight decline of 0.1 percent, the lowest since WAN began the survey in 1987.

In the past five years, there has been a 1.8 percent decline in US daily circulation; going back 10 years, the fall amounts to 10.2 percent. That means 6.38 million less people buy a daily newspaper in the United States today than a decade ago.

In terms of the number of titles, there has been a drop of 44 titles in the past five years. The average circulation of the reduced number of titles has remained stable over this period.

Circulation of dailies in Canada increased very slightly last year and have now risen for four years in succession, for a total five-year gain of 3.4 percent.

Japanese newspapers again took a slight circulation dip (-0.4 percent) in 2000, the fourth year in succession, and sales have decreased by 1.1 percent over the past five years. But that is far better than such performances in most countries during a serious recession. Over the last decade, the decrease is 0.8 percent, or 628,000 people less who buy a newspaper daily in Japan today than ten years ago.

Elsewhere in Asia, India continues to stride forward, with an exceptional sales increase of 20.2 percent last year. There are now 6.87 million more newspaper readers than in 1996, an increase of 28.7 percent.

The latest figures from China, which relate to 1999, show daily circulation just over the 50 million mark, a 12.7 percent increase over 1998. Sales of dailies in Hong Kong dropped 3.1 percent last year and are down 9.2 percent since 1996. The latest figures from Indonesia, for 1999, show circulation down by 4.7 percent, but up by 1.4 percent over 1997. At the same time, the number of dailies increased from 79 to 172.

The number of dailies also increased in Taiwan last year, from 149 to 170 titles.

In the Pacific, Australia reports a slight circulation decrease (-1.9 percent) in 2000 and sales are also marginally down (-2.1 percent) since 1996. In New Zealand, daily sales fell –0.4 percent last year and have decreased by 6.0 percent since 1996.

In Latin America, where it has been difficult to obtain reliable data, the picture remains mixed for the region:
The Brazilian newspaper market continues to expand significantly, with a circulation increase of 8.8 percent last year and +21.8 percent since 1996. In Chile, sales were up by 4 percent last year and up +7.5 percent over the last five years. The deep Argentine recession is having a strong impact on circulation, with a drop of 22.8 percent last year and 36.2 percent since 1996.

Comparing the size of total circulation in the national markets, Japan remains a long way in front with 71,896,000 copies sold daily; India, after pushing the United States out of second place in 1999, has now gone well ahead with 66 million copies; the United States is in third place, with 55,943,000 copies; China is in fourth place, with 50 million copies; and Germany is fifth with 23,946,000 copies sold daily.

The Norwegians and the Japanese remain the world's greatest newspaper buyers with, respectively, 575 and 570 sales per thousand population each day. Finland comes third with 445, and Sweden follows with 417. Switzerland was next at 396.