In a statement released yesterday, the publishers said:
On-month the Guardian and the Observer were well ahead of the majority of the market with increased sales across weekday and weekend.
Year-on-year the Guardian and the Observer also out-performed the market among all national newspapers, recording the smallest year-on-year declines.
A busy news agenda, strong Guardian exclusives and excellent supplements all contributed to a boost in sales. Best-selling weekday editions included Jo Johnson quitting (6 September) and the decision to shut down the Commons being ruled as unlawful (25 September). At the weekend, a Saturday edition featuring news of the BBC race row (28 September) and the Observer’s Food Monthly and Rugby World Cup supplements (15 September) proved popular.
September also saw record-breaking digital traffic for the Guardian; September was our biggest ever month for page views (1.37 billion) and also one of the highest ever months for unique browsers (162 million).
Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, Guardian News & Media, said: “These figures are very encouraging. In spite of the long-term challenges in the news industry, more people than ever are reading Guardian journalism and supporting us financially. In such a critical month for political news, it’s fantastic to see the Guardian and Observer emerge as the best performing of all titles in print. These figures reflect a month of excellent Guardian and Observer journalism."
The Guardian sale: 130,496
up 1.7% MoM
down 3.9% YoY
Saturday Guardian: 238,901
up 2.7% MoM
down 5.5% YoY
Mon-Fri: 107,912
up 0.5% MoM
down 3.1% YoY
Observer: 159,780
up 2.8% MoM
down 2.2% YoY
