This is the first year we have collected data on newspaper purchase so the most interesting findings are around the differences between our surveyed countries. We have removed Italy, Spain, and Brazil because the relatively low levels of internet penetration are likely to lead to misleading results when measuring an offline activity. The remaining results are broadly in line with officially published readership figures in these countries, which also see Japan topping the league for newspaper purchase.

Denmark and France are least likely to have paid for a printed newspaper. In the case of Denmark this is partly due to substitution with free newspapers and online. Paid newspaper circulation has halved in the past 15 years in Denmark.¹ In France, paid newspaper circulation has been historically lower without the mass market ‘tabloid’ papers found in countries like Germany and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, France does have a number of successful free newspapers like 20 Minutes, DirectMatin-Plus, and Metro.

When looking at where people buy newspapers, Italy, Spain, UK, and urban Brazil are more likely to use a news stand or shop. In Germany, Denmark, US, and Japan home delivery is more prevalent – suggesting that newspapers may be able to build further on a continuing relationship with customers in digital or print. It is no coincidence that Germany and Japan, which have seen the most resilience in newspaper sales, are the countries with the highest level of home delivery (a proxy for a subscription relationship).