"The ABC figures are a testament to the continuing strength of the medium," said PPA Marketing director of marketing Phil Cutts.

The results follow on from last week's announcement that weekly magazine sales had risen by 14m, with consumer spending on magazines topping the 2bn mark for the first time.

"Last year's focus was firmly on the men's weekly sector this year we are seeing more emphasis on the women's weekly market," said Cutts.

Emap's Closer, printed by New Jarrold Printing, was one of the women's sector's star performers with a 12.5% growth in circulation.
The figures also represented good news for Polestar, which prints weekly launches Pick Me Up and Grazia, which debuted with circulations of just over 500,000 and 155,000 respectively.

The men's weekly sector also showed continued healthy growth. Zoo, printed by St Ives, jumped 30.1% year-on-year to 260,000 but it still trailed IPC and Polestar Chantry's Nuts, which broke the 300,000 barrier for the first time.

Customer magazines still hold the top three slots. Sky the magazine, printed by  Prinovis, grew 2.8% year-on-year to nearly 6.8m, Polestar's Asda Magazine rose 7.3% to 2.6m and Boots Health and Beauty, printed by Cooper Clegg, slipped slightly to just over 1.7m.

"The ABC's once again reflect the buoyancy of the customer publishing industry," said APA director Julia Hutchinson.

Story by Darryl Danielli