The figures are expected to be the Sunday tabloid's lowest circulation to date, and will see the gap widening between it and News International's News of the World. Last December, the Sunday Mirror's circulation was 1,689,072.
The figures will be a headache for new Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey, who is set to take over at the publisher from Philip Graf on February 3. Bailey shocked the industry at the end of last year, when she quit her job at consumer magazine IPC Media to take up the post.
She will be tasked with turning around the fortunes of the group, which have been battered after the largely unsuccessful and expensive relaunch of daily red-top, the Daily Mirror.
However, it has not been all bad news for the group. Last month, it said signs of an advertising recovery were on the way with the news that ad revenues were up 0.3% in the first two months of the fourth quarter.
Its three national newspapers, including The People, saw advertising grow in the third quarter by 0.5% year on year, despite the highly competitive Sunday tabloid market. October advertising revenues declined by 1.7%, but this has been followed by growth of 5.7% in November.
Last month, the Sunday Mirror posted an ABC of 1,701,469, a fall of 2.7% year on year, while the News of the World rose 1.4% on November 2001 to 3,979,216.
Trinity Mirror refused to comment on the circulation fall. The latest ABC figures for all the UK national newspapers will be published over the weekend.
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