The Mail on Sunday overtook the Sun on Sunday in total circulation for the first time in May.
During a month in whih the Mail on Sunday ran strong promotions, including giving away Lego toys and a free poster from the film Frozen, the DMGT-owned title increased its circulation month on month by 3.5% to 1,497,855, more than 30,000 copies ahead of the Sunday edition of the Sun.
The Independent on Sunday, Observer and Sunday Telegraph all also recorded small month-on-month increases of about 3% in May, but the Sunday Times saw a dip of almost 2% to under 800,000.
Most of the middle-market and tabloid Sunday titles saw small declines, except for the Mirror on Sunday, which kept circulation broadly flat at around 833,379.
The daily red-tops also performed poorly, with the Sun falling the furthest with a dip of 2.6%. The Express also daw a dip in circulation, down 1.6% month-on-month, but the Mail and all the quality titles except for the Financial Times saw month-on-month increases.
The long-term picture still looks bleak, however, with the daily titles having lost more than half a million copies from their circulation since May 2014, and the Sundays having shed almost 700,000.
Daily titles
The Sun 1,809,240 (-3%)
Daily Mail 1,657,867 (+2%)
The Daily Telegraph 486,262 (+0.05%)
Daily Express 432,076 (-1%)
Daily Star 417,538 (-1%)
The Times 397,171 (+0.85%)
i 280,074 (+1.5%)
Financial Times 210,481 (-0.95%)
Daily Record 193,907 (-2%)
The Guardian 178,758 (+1.48%)
The Independent 60,438 (+2.18%)
Sunday titles
Mail on Sunday 1,497,855 (+3.5%)
Sun on Sunday 1,469,195 (-0.32%)
Sunday Mirror 833,379 (+0.04%)
Sunday Times 793,517 (-1.87%)
Sunday Express 382,343 (-0.78%)
Sunday Telegraph 380,922 (+2.72%)
Sunday People 318,139 (-1.69%)
Daily Star Sunday 253,813 (-0.17%)
Sunday Mail 212,057 (-1.73%)
The Observer 202,824 (+3.26)
Independent on Sunday 101,179 (+2.71%)
