More readers, more success

More and more people are reading The Independent, it was confirmed yesterday with the release of the latest newspaper readership figures.

More and more people are reading The Independent, it was confirmed yesterday with the release of the latest newspaper readership figures.

The National Readership Survey, the official currency of the newspaper industry, showed huge increases for The Independent. The figures come a month after the paper was named Newspaper of the Year, and follow six months of rises in sales figures.

The readership survey revealed a 31 per cent increase in The Independent's total readership while readership of The Guardian and The Times fell by 17.4 per cent and 17.2 per cent. Since the introduction of the compact format last September, there has been a swing of almost 400,000 readers between The Independent and The Guardian. Total daily readership of The Independent now stands at 702,000.

In the 15-44 age bracket, The Independent recorded a massive 40.1 per cent rise. In this age grouping, The Guardian and The Times suffered losses of 17.7 per cent and 18.5 per cent respectively.

The compact version has proved extremely popular with female readers. The Independent showed a 47 per cent increase in women readers; The Guardian and The Times lost 4.5 per cent and 8.1 per cent.

The paper has also outperformed its rivals on Saturdays, with readership for all adults up 9.7 per cent against a market fall of 8.3 per cent. The Guardian and The Times dropped 10.2 per cent and 13.1 per cent respectively.