Global newspaper publishing revenues from sales and advertising were US$164bn in 2012, down from US$187bn in 2008. However, after a period of decline revenues will stabilise and remain at 2012 levels for the forecast period. Globally, continued expansion in growth markets will offset the longer-term declines in mature markets.
A number of developing markets across the globe will see significant growth in newspaper revenues. Although revenues overall have declined over the past few years, appetite for newspapers is growing: more than 547mn newspapers were being distributed daily at the end of 2012, up from 516mn in 2008. With growth in Asia Pacific markets particularly, that number is forecast to rise to 594mn per day by 2017.
Global newspaper publishing revenues from sales and advertising were US$164bn in 2012, down from US$187bn in 2008. However, after a period of decline revenues will stabilise and remain at 2012 levels for the forecast period. Globally, continued expansion in growth markets will offset the longer-term declines in mature markets.
The Indian newspaper market will be the only one to grow at a double-digit CAGR (10%) by 2017 and will emerge as the world’s sixth-largest newspaper market by the end of the forecast period. A new middle-class readership in growth markets generally will boost the newspaper industry.
A long-term decline in newspaper advertising revenues means that circulation will represent an increasingly significant proportion of overall revenues. Free ad-supported newspapers will remain an important part of the landscape, but in mature markets, digital paywalls will become mainstream.
Digital will account for 11% of global newspaper revenues by 2017, up from 5% in 2012. But digitisation’s influence is greater than that share of revenues suggests: it is changing the definition of a newspaper. With print just one among a number of distribution channels, newspapers are becoming newspaper brands.