Magazine readership in Australia has jumped by almost a quarter of a million since last year, according to Roy Morgan.
A total of 15,245,000 Australians aged 14-plus now read magazines in print or online via the web or an app. That’s 74.1 per cent of the population – almost one in three people.
This jump represents a rise of 1.6 per cent from a year ago, or 238,000, according to the Roy Morgan Australian Readership report.
Other key findings
- Long live print: The long-predicted ‘death of print’ so far hasn’t materialised. Just under 12.6 million Australians aged 14-plus (61.2 per cent) read print magazines, the same as a year ago. In even better news for print publishers, nine of Australia’s top-15 magazines actually grew their print readership in the year to March 2019. And five of the leading titles grew their readership by at least five per cent.
- Coles Magazine is the most widely read magazine in Australia, followed by Woolworths’ Fresh. Coles Magazine’s readership was up 10.8 per cent to 4,840,000. The readership of Fresh rose by 3.8 per cent.
- Women’s Weekly is Australia’s most popular paid magazine. It also grew its readership by 3.7 per cent to 1,536,000 in the year to March 2019.
- Australian Geographic had the biggest improvement of Australia’s leading magazines. It grew its print readership by a stunning 25.2 per cent to 666,000. Its international counterpart National Geographic has also had an impressive year. It grew its print readership by 21.2 per cent to 1,328,000. It’s now Australia’s fifth most read magazine.
- The new Take 5 Bumper Monthly magazine is now Australia’s eleventh most widely read. Although it only launched in the middle of last year, it already has a readership of 652,000.
Long live print
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the new figures show that magazines are thriving in Australia, including print publications.
“Readership of magazines in Australia continues to grow,” she said. “In contrast to those who might question the future of print publications, it is print magazines that Australians continue to turn to.
“The exceptional performance of Australia’s magazines over the past year, with many categories growing their readership strongly, shows that even in the increasingly competitive marketplace with a proliferation of media choices for consumers, magazines are still offering advertisers a direct line to many valuable Aussie consumers.”