While the national Sunday market as a whole dropped 5.7% from May 2010, to an average 10,328,843 copies, the Associated Newspapers title's circulation rose 0.01% to 1,918,751.
Its promotional activity in the month included the 22 May giveaway, trailed on TV, of a Neil Diamond CD.
It also launched its new rewards scheme, Mail Rewards, in Scotland on 15 May, and repeated it over the following two issues.
Due to start in England and Wales this weekend, Mail Rewards entitles readers who buy the Saturday issue of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, to a range of benefits from commercial partners, including a £5 Tesco voucher.
Richard Desmond's mid-market competitor, the Sunday Express, also proved resilient, shifting 563,397 copies during the month, which was only 0.9% fewer than last May.
However, his Daily Star Sunday was the worst performer in the market, falling 14.3% to 305,984 copies.
A similar plight affected Guardian News & Media's Observer, down 13.9% to 293,053 copies.
In March, the paper fell below 300,000 copies for the first time since the start of ABC records in 1962 – this month's figure is a new low.
The Independent on Sunday dropped 7.9% to 151,212, while The Sunday Telegraph fell 6.3% to 480,438 and The Sunday Times fell 6.1% to 1,049,599.
See the full figures from the national newspaper ABC figures for May 2011
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