19 February 2026

Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) Q4 (October to December) 2025 Circulation Release

Total newspaper and magazine circulation remained steady in the final quarter of 2024, reflecting the stabilising trend seen in previous quarters.

The latest newspaper and magazine circulation figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) on Thursday show magazines growing by 3.9% from the previous quarter and by 8.9% year on year.

The growth occurred primarily in custom magazines as publishers increased circulation in niche sectors such as retail, sport and hobbies and youth. Other magazine sectors were solid with consumer magazines down 1.2% year-on-year despite the closure or non-publication of certain titles.

After growing by 1% in the third quarter of 2024, newspapers declined by 2.5% in Q4. Daily newspapers however stabilised, reporting slightly higher circulation in the quarter.

The effect of the closures of various Media 24 newspapers at the end of 2024 continues to be felt year-on-year with daily and weekly newspapers both down by over 15% over the year. When the Quarter 1 2026 figures are released in May the annual data will reflect like for like comparisons for these sectors.

The resilience of the magazine market is reflected in their eighth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth.

In total, magazine and newspaper circulation dipped by just 5000 copies in the quarter to remain at their highest levels since Q1 2024 at 8.5 million.

After growing by 13 members in the previous quarter, the number of titles registered with the ABC dipped by 6 in the final quarter of the year to 390.

Andrew Gill
ABC – President