The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) data, which has been recording advertising figures since 1950, also revealed that total advertising revenue in 2007 decreased 7.9% to $45.3bn.

The nearest comparable year was in 2001 when the sector saw a 9% reversal.

However print advertising still commanded the lion's share. The advertising spend on newspaper websites grew less than 2% from 5.7% to 7.5% in the last year.

The increase in online advertising spend grew 18.8% to £3.16bn. This is significantly less than that of previous years though, with revenues increasing 31.4% each year in 2005 and 2006, taking in revenues of $2bn and $2.6bn respectively.

However, advertising expenditures in the year's fourth quarter for newspaper websites increased by 13.6% to $847m compared to the same period a year ago. This marks the thirteenth consecutive quarter of double digit growth for online newspaper advertising.

NAA president and chief executive John F. Sturm said: "Even with the near-term challenges posed to print media by a more fragmented information environment and the economic headwinds facing all advertising media, newspaper publishers are continuing to drive strong revenue growth from their increasingly robust web platforms."

He added: “We believe the underlying attraction of newspapers - providing the highest quality news and information – is only enhanced as readers engage with our products on multiple platforms, like election year political coverage, commentary and blogging in print and on the Web.

"These results back up that belief while also demonstrating that the medium is continuing to aggressively position itself for the future.”