News Circulation Drops Reported

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30143, 29 May 1963, Page 10

News Circulation Drops Reported

(N Z.P .A. -Reuter—Copyright)

NEW YORK, May 26. New Zealand’s 42 daily newspapers had a combined circulation of 926,000 in 1961. but the ' rate of 383 copies a 1000 people was down from 387 the previous year. The figures were given in the 1962 Statistical Year Book of the United Nations, issued today. Britain leads the world in newspaper readership and published literary works. The British printed 506 newspapers for every 1009 people in 1961, the year covered by the statistics. The total circulation of Australia's 56 newspapers in 1961 was 3,946,000. The circulation rate of 376 copies per 1000 people was down from the previous year’s 380 per 1000.

The Soviet Union published 73,999 books, of which 37,073 were about applied science and 8581 were works of literature.

Japan was third in total book production with 24.223, followed by West Germany with 21,877 and the United States with 18,060. The total estimated circulation of Britain’s 123 daily

newspapers was 26,700,000, about half that of the United States. American figures for 1961 were not available but in 1960 total circulation of Englishlanguage dailies was 39 million, with 328 copies per 1000 people. Other countries with relatively wide newspaper circulation per 1000 people were Sweden (477), Iceland (450). Japan (416), Norway (384), Switzerland (374) and Denmark (345). Circulation density increased during the year in Sweden and Japan. The rate ,in the Soviet Union was 181 per 1000. In aggregate newspaper circulation, the United States is followed by the Soviet Union (39,355,000) and Japan (39.139,000).

Canada produced 43 per cent, of the world’s newsprint and the United States 13 per cent, in 1961. World newsprint production, excluding China, amounted to 14 million metric tons, an increase of 3 per cent, over the previous year and up 88 per cent, on the 1948 figure.