The Indepedent

Last month the Independent announced plans to cut down on bulk copies, leading to a significant circulation drop in October


The Independent's saw its circulation fall by more than 26.8 per cent in October after a transfer of bulk copies to smaller sister title i, which recorded the biggest monthly increase in circulation across the UK national and Sunday newspaper market.

According to the latest figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulation, i's circulation rose by 14.7 per cent month-on-month, taking it over the 200,000 mark to 211,467.

Last month the Independent announced plans to cut down on bulk copies, injecting a circulation boost to its sister title which recorded 34,262 bulk copies for October, compared to 8,242 the previous month.

As a result the Independent saw its circulation fall 24.6 per cent month-on-month, and 26.8 per cent year-on-year, to 133,449, with its
bulk copies dropping from 72,435 to 52,934 month-on-month.

Only i and the Financial Times managed to avoid the declines experienced by the rest of the audited daily titles, with the FT recording a 0.1 per cent rise.

For the Sunday titles it was only the Mail on Sunday which achieved an increase in circulation, of 1 per cent. In a statement, managing director Marcus Rich said "we're really delighted with the latest ABC figures".

Year-on-year circulation figures showed Sunday titles outshone the dailies in October, with the latter recording across-the-board decreases.

Meanwhile the Daily Star Sunday, Sunday Mail, Sunday Mirror, the People and Sunday Express all recorded increases in circulation, with the Daily Star Sunday experiencing an impressive 97.9 per cent rise.

Trinity Mirror yesterday reported that it had seen "a significant improvement in the circulation volumes and revenue performance for Sunday titles" since the closure of News International's News of the World in July.

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