The Scottish national newspaper reported a month-on-month increase of 9.18 per cent in average daily circulation for May, rising to 32,292, according to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
On 22 May the paper devoted its front page to a large picture of the footballer, only known in court as CTB, who allegedly had an affair with model Imogen Thomas and obtained an injunction to protect him from being identified. The footballer was also later named by MP John Hemming in parliament as Ryan Giggs.
The Sunday Herald had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.
The figures, released today, also show the Mail on Sunday was the only audited newspaper in the UK to record an increase in circulation year-on-year.
Every other audited title across morning and Sunday newspapers recorded a decline, at an overall average of 5.69 per cent.
The Mail on Sunday recorded just a 0.01 per cent increase year-on-year in May, compared to the biggest decline which was recorded by the Sunday Herald at 23.61 per cent.
The second biggest increased was reported by Scotland on Sunday with 7.18 per cent, followed by the i newspaper, which has improved on previous declines with an increase of 3.67 per cent, taking its average daily circulation to 167,067.
The biggest month-on-month decrease was recorded by the Sunday Express, which dropped by 6.36 per cent to 563,397.
Key figures
The first figure in each category below denotes average net circulation for May 2011. The figure in brackets is the month-on-month percentage change for the average net circulation between April and May and the third figure shows the year-on-year percentage change between May 2010 and May 2011.
Morning papers:
Popular: 5,029,153 (1.38) -5.57
Mid Market: 2,688,469 (-1.73) -2.38
Quality: 2,146,417 (-0.52) -2.83
Total average: 9,864,039 (0.10) -4.13
Sunday papers:
Popular: 4,893,361 (0.69) -7.32
Mid Market: 2,786,590 (-2.45) -1.01
Quality: 2,060,854 (-0.21) -7.76
Total average: 9,740,805 (-0.42) -5.69
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