Digital Sales of The Economist Go Up. Readers Pay for Digital Content
The Economist released Monday its latest Consolidated Media Report (CMR), confirming a shift in worldwide audience behaviour and a growing focus on digital consumption. Three highlights that point in that direction include:
- Digital edition sales now account for 11% of total Economist circulation.
- Over 50,000 more digital edition copies were purchased compared to a year ago.
- Worldwide digital sales grew 43%, with double-digit growth in every global region.
According to The Economist, the increase in digital sales coincides with The Economist’s audience increasingly consuming content across multiple platforms.
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A total of 167,254 digital editions were purchased between January and June 2014, a leap of 27.8% from the previous six months, securing an additional 36,338 copy sales. The increased sales of digital editions enabled circulation to remain flat versus the previous CMR.
The Economist CMR report details 1.55 million audited print and digital editions worldwide. It provides a unique view of combined print and digital across six regions, compiled by Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) in America with support from ABC U.K.
As readers increasingly move between print, apps and online, media buyers around the world are provided with reliable print circulation and metrics from multiple digital channels.
In addition to worldwide data, each regional edition is featured in a separate section in the report. AAM provided data for the North America and Latin America editions, while ABC U.K.’s audits spanned editions from the U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. The CMR report combines this data, revealing YoY digital growth:
- North American digital edition sales grew 23.5%
- Latin American digital edition sales grew 12.9%
- UK digital edition sales grew 147%
- Europe digital edition sales grew 58.8%
- MEA digital edition sales grew 11.9%
- Asia digital edition sales grew 92.6%
Michael Brunt, MD of global circulation for The Economist commented: “Our audience is increasingly consuming The Economist across platforms.”
Additional digital metrics are available in the full CMR report.
The Economist is a current affairs publication. It is now available to download for reading on Android, Blackberry PlayBook, iPhone or iPad devices.
