The latest figures from British Rate and Data (BRAD) show the number of consumer titles rose by about 100 between 2002 and 2003 to 3,229, which represents a 3.2% increase and the highest year-on-year growth recorded since 1999/2000.

However, business titles dropped by about 100 last year to 5,108 titles.

In a separate survey, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) revealed a 1.6% rise in the number of copies sold to consumers in the year to December 2003.

PPA chief executive Ian Locks said: The upturn is a welcome sign that publishers are now willing to invest more in launches especially after the recent additions to the mens weeklies market, Zoo Weekly and Nuts.

But the biggest problem area is in B2B titles, where the financial and economic changes means that many titles have closed, which is not surprising. As soon as the climate changes I expect them to spring back again.

However, the outlook for magazine printers is still less than clear. Locks said: Print margins have been under pressure for years and generally they have been responding to that by investing in greater efficiencies.

The ABC figures for newspapers show the success of the Independent and The Times compact editions. The Times figures for January show that 17% of its 660,713 circulation came from its tabloid size, while the smaller Independent accounted for 35% of its 248,876 circulation.

The ABC figures show:
Womens home interest up by 10.2% year on year, led by IKEA Room and House Beautiful
Womens weeklies with steady growth of 4.3% over the year thanks to Chat, up 9.4% and Take a Break, up 1.9%
TV listings magazines for satellite and cable are up 10.5%
Domestic and current affairs sector up by 4.3%
Real magazine is up 27.9% while Candis and eve are up 17.9% and 17.6% respectively
In the teen market, Cosmo Girl is up 39.6% to just under 200,000 copies a month

Story by Tony Brown