The i reports 82.3% year-on-year circulation rise

The Independent's sister title, i, has overtaken the Guardian's headline circulation, recording an 82.3 per cent rise in a year.

January figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation give i an average daily circulation of 243,321 last month, up 9.74 per cent on December and 13,568 copies ahead of the Guardian.

i is the only daily national title to report a year-on-year increase in circulation, at 82.3 per cent. The paper launched in October 2010.

Both the i and the Guardian are categorised by ABC as "national morning quality", but a Guardian News and Media spokeswoman disputed the comparison.

She said: "The Guardian is a global brand with a reach of tens of millions. Our newspaper is a quality title with a cover price of £1.20, a different audience to the i and an ABC that includes zero bulk copies. The i is a 20p tabloid with tens of thousands of bulk copies padding out its numbers."

The i puts out an average of 47,145 bulk copies each day. Full-rate newsagent sales of i are up 52.8 per cent year on year, from 123,770 to 189,139.

The Independent was the biggest loser in circulation terms compared with a year ago – falling 36.72 per cent to 117,084. With the Independent and i combined, the group circulated 360,405 newspapers in January, up 13.15 per cent on the same period last year.

Most of the national dailies saw circulation growth in January compared to the slow month of December, with the exception of the Daily Express, Financial Times, Independent and Times.

Total circulation across all of the daily newspapers stood at 9.37 million, down 8.13 per cent on the 10.19 million copies recorded in January 2011.

In the Sunday market, the Daily Star Sunday saw its circulation climb to 644,804 – more than double what it achieved this time last year (up 103.59 per cent).

The Sunday Mirror and People also enjoyed year-on-year rises of 60 and 54 per cent respectively, following the closure of the News of the World.

Daily newspapers - average January circulation (year-on-year percentage change)
Daily Mirror - 1,122,563 (-5.99%)
Daily Record - 276,003 (-10.06%)
Daily Star  624,029 (-15.02%)
The Sun - 2,751,219 (-8.35%)
Daily Express - 586,707 (-8.31%)
Daily Mail - 2,011,283 (-5.86%)
The Daily Telegraph - 596,180 (-8.45%)
Financial Times - 319,757 (-16.53%)
The Herald - 46,479 (-10.80%)
The Guardian - 229,753 (-17.74%)
i - 243,321 (+82.30%)
The Independent - 117,084 (-36.72%)
The Scotsman - 39,331 (-9.30%)
The Times - 405,113 (-11.40%)
Racing Post - 47,741 (-5.02%)

Sunday newspapers
Daily Star Sunday - 644,804 (+103.59%)
Sunday Mail - 370,355 (+1.10%)
Sunday Mirror - 1,753,202 (+60.43%)
The People - 770,772 (+53.89%)
Sunday Express - 607,894 (+10.47%)
Sunday Post - 302,388 (-4.88%)
The Mail on Sunday - 1,921,010 (-1.89%)
Independent on Sunday - 124,428 (-18.44%)
The Observer - 264,321 (-15.87%)
Scotland on Sunday - 50,726 (-9.83%)
Sunday Herald - 31,106 (-27.80%)
The Sunday Telegraph - 461,772 (-6.92%)
The Sunday Times - 967,975 (-6.87%)

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