The Spectator has recorded its highest ever total circulation figures after racking up 71,707 print and digital sales for the last six months of 2015.
The rightwing magazine’s figures came during a surprisingly positive period for UK current affairs titles, with the New Statesman, Private Eye, Prospect and the Week all recording year-on-year increases in print and digital sales, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The New Statesman saw the biggest rises in both print, increasing copy sales 9% to 31,465, and digital, which almost tripled to more than 1,900.
However, Private Eye, which is only available in print, remains well ahead of the UK-focussed competition, selling 229,777 copies, an increase of 4.7% on the same period of 2014. It was followed by the Week, which upped print circulation by 2% to 204,128 and increased sales of its separate digital version by 25% to 34,637.
The Economist saw a small decline in its UK print sales, down just over 7% to 161,783, but experienced an overall rise in circulation due to a 47% increase in digital sales to 73,567, giving it a total combined circulation of 235,350.
Writing on the Spectator website, the editor, Fraser Nelson, said: “We have never believed in a tension between print and digital. Our belief is that if you get the journalism right, all else will follow.
“Much is said about the inexorable decline of journalism; here at the Spectator we’re celebrating the fact that the best period in the magazine’s history has just begun.”
