Indian newspaper circulation up by 33 pc

New Delhi: According to the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers (WAN) report, the circulation of Indian dailies jumped 33 per cent to over 7.86 crore during 2001-05 where as the global newspaper circulation increased 9.95 per cent in the same period.

The WAN also reported that newspaper circulation is growing and new newspapers are being launched at a remarkable rate.

“Daily newspaper titles surpassed 10,000 for the first time in history, with India accounting for 1,834 dailies in 2005, up 22.8 per cent from 1,493 dailies in 2001,” WANs annual statistical compendium of the newspaper industry reported.

"What we are seeing completely contradicts the conventional wisdom that newspapers are in terminal decline," said Timothy Balding, CEO of WAN, an organisation that represents 18,000 newspapers.

The circulation of India's dailies consistently increased from 5,91,29,000 in 2001 to 7,29,39,000 in 2003 to 7,86,89,000 in 2005. Newspapers represent a $180-billion dollar, with more advertising revenues than radio, cinema, magazines and Internet combined, Balding said.

"Newspapers are doing far better than commonly believed. In fact, the figures confirm that the industry is healthy and vigorous and is successfully dealing with increasing competition from other media.”

The report also says the number of India's dailies increased from 1,493 in 2001 to 1,907 in 2003 before dipping to 1,729 in 2004. The figure, however, rose to 1,834 the following year.

The number of titles registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India rose from 49,145 in 2001 to 60,413 in 2005 while their circulation increased from 12,99,66,000 to 15,67,19,000 during the same period.

WAN said more than 450 million copies of newspapers are sold daily and there are over 1.4 billion paid-newspaper readers. The total circulation of free dailies more than doubles in five years, it added.

The total number of paid-for daily newspaper titles worldwide jumped over the 10,000 mark for the first time in history, to 10,104, a 13 per cent growth from 2001, when there were 8,930 titles.

"The figures show that there has been a quiet revolution in the number of daily launches," said Balding.