The Sun saw its web traffic soar by more than 25% in January, a welcome recovery after it lost audience in the previous month.
Its website recorded a 5% month-on-month fall in average daily web browsers in December, despite dropping its paywall fully for the first time on 30 November.
News UK chiefs brushed off the decline, blaming it on issues including “certain apps” being turned off in the transition to free access, and a seasonal lull in fantasy football game Dream Team.
The Sun’s decline was the smallest in the market in December.
Their confidence appears to have been well placed, with the Sun recording a 25.19% month-on-month boost in daily average browsers, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Thursday.
“This is the second consecutive month the Sun has performed well digitally and shows the enduring strength of the Sun’s content whether in print or online,” said a spokesman.
It was only outperformed by Richard Desmond’s Express and Star, which both experienced massive growth.
dailystar.co.uk saw huge growth of 51.68% month on month in January, albeit from its base as the smallest of the national newspaper websites.
Stablemate express.co.uk, the second smallest of the national newspaper websites, saw healthy growth of 31.38%.
Following a seasonally low December, there were strong performances across the board.
Mail Online grew by almost 12%, theguardian.com rose 11.70%, Telegraph.co.uk surged by 14.19%, the Mirror jumped by 20.74% and theindependent.co.uk saw browser numbers rise by 19.14%.
Mail Online 14,759,451 (+11.96%)
theguardian.com 8,764,814 (+11.69%)
Telegraph 4,611,564 (+14.19%)
Mirror Group Nationals 4,822,666 (+20.74%)
The Independent 3,331,403 (+19.14%)
The Sun 1,909,955 (+25.19%)
Metro 1,418,152 (+26.93%)
Express.co.uk 1,399,663 (+31.38%)
Dailystar.co.uk 901,334 (+51.68%)
