ABCs: Popular dailies suffer in election month

All five UK popular daily newspapers suffered month-on-month and year-on-years sales falls in May, as news hungry readers reached for copies of quality titles. The Daily Star was the best performer, suffering just a 0.01% month-on-month fall in circulation and a 2.11% annual fall, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures out today. Richard Desmond's red-top, which reported a circulation of 822,934 copies, has been selling at 20p in most UK regions since November 2008. The Sun Headline circulation: 2,936,099 Monthly: -0.67% Yearly: -1.61% UK and Ireland paid for circulation: 2,880,463 (98%) Overseas: 55,636 Daily Mail Headline circulation: 2,090,469 Monthly: -0.27% Yearly: -4.83% UK and Ireland full rate circulation: 1,873,450 (90%) Overseas: 104,668 Daily Mirror Headline circulation: 1,238,145 Month-on-month change: -0.12% Year-on-year change: -6.57% UK and Ireland paid for circulation: 1,186,687 (96% of total) Overseas: 51,458 Daily Star Headline circulation: 822,934 Monthly: -0.01% Yearly: -2.11% UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 803,393 (97.6%) Overseas: 19,541 Daily Express Headline circulation: 663,627 Monthly: -0.32% Yearly: -7.79% UK and Ireland paid for circulation: 629,322 (94.8%) Overseas: 34,305 Headline circulation includes lesser rate sales, subscriptions, bulks – copies sold to airlines, rail companies, hotels and gyms for a nominal fee and given free to the public – and distribution in Ireland and overseas. UK and Ireland paid for circulation excludes bulks and overseas distribution • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".