The headline circulation of i, which recently celebrated its 100th issue anniversary, is at 171,415 for March – down 2.5% month on month, according to the latest ABC figures.
Despite recording the quality newspaper’s first drop in only its third month of official auditing, the loss of 4,299 copy sales is less than senior management had feared.
Simon Kelner, editor-in-chief of i and The Independent, said: ‘I am very proud that i has been able to continue to produce such impressive figures.
"To have sustained our sales performance after the advertising campaign ended proves that we have a product that readers have tried, enjoyed and continued buying. Our daily interaction with readers suggests that we are hitting the spot and the figures prove it."
Since launching on 26 October 2010, i made its debut public audit of 133,472 for January, followed by 175,415 in February, when the ad campaign was running.
The test for the UK’s newest newspaper will be if sales can stay above the 150,000 mark in the coming months, without the support of major marketing activity.
Stablemate The Independent had an average circulation of 181,934 in March, down 0.3% month on month and 1.2% year on year.
A group statement stressed that March’s combined daily circulation of both The Independent and i of 353,349, was "significantly bigger than that of the Guardian, at 261,116".
Circulation of The Guardian, priced £1, dropped 0.6% month on month, and 7.8% year on year, to average 261,116 copies in March.
News International's The Times was the largest annual faller in the quality titles, down 11.2% to 446,109, despite a slight 0.0(3)% hike month on month.
Headline circulation at The Daily Telegraph slipped just 0.3% month on month, but was down 8.8% year on year, to 626,416.
Pearson’s Financial Times was down 0.8% month on month and 4.9% year on year to 381,658.
In the red-tops, The Sun’s circulation remained steady, down 0.0(2)% month on month, but 6.2% year on year, to 2,817,857.
Trinity’s Daily Mirror fell 1.8% month on month and 7.3% year on year to 1,155,895.
Northern & Shell’s tabloid , down 15.5% year on year and 2.7% month on month, to 699,216.
Circulation for the group’s mid-market title, the Daily Express, fell 7.13% year on year and 0.48% month on month to 620,616.
Associated’s Daily Mail meanwhile dropped just 2% year on year and 1.5% month on month, to 2,039,731.
.jpg)
.jpg)