"We all talk of being consumer-centric. We all talk of having a constant eye on the future. Now is truly the time to do what we say," said WAN-IFRA CEO Vincent Peyrègne who presented the survey at the 68th World News Media Congress, 23rd World Editors Forum and 26th World Advertising Forum in Cartagena, Colombia.

Peyrègne also announced the launch of the World News Media Outlook, a joint research project with the University of  Central Lancashire and the University of Oxford that aims to provide news executives with the cutting-edge intelligence to help benchmark their companies’ performance and devise innovative strategies to ensure their businesses’ future success. For the study, WAN-IFRA is calling for news media executives to participate through an online survey: www.bit.ly/wnmo2016

“The Outlook will be a very useful step on the way to a new approach of measuring and assessing the performance and priorities of leading news companies worldwide. I am delighted to add this key study to the family of World Press Trends reports that  underline its role in providing key insights that support innovation in the news industry ».

The World Press Trends survey includes data from more than 70 countries, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the global industry’s value. The data is compiled through an enormous undertaking by dozens of national newspaper and news media associations and generous support from global data suppliers: Zenith Optimedia, IPSOS, PwC, ComScore, the Pew Research Center, and the ITU.

Global revenues

World Press Trends data showed that newspapers generated an estimated US$ 168 billion in circulation and advertising revenue in 2015. Ninety billion came from print and digital circulation, while 78 billion came from advertising, the survey said.

Total global newspaper revenues fell 1.2 per cent in 2015 from a year earlier, and are down 4.3 per cent over the last five years. WAN-IFRA estimates of global industry revenue again include data on non-daily revenue, which is estimated at US$ 8 billion.  

"Unfortunately, the way the industry measures value is still embedded in the old format-based methodology,” said Peyrègne. “The information on how much is earned from other, often new sources of revenue is lacking, despite the fact that they are becoming an important part of the revenue mix. WPT data indicates that in most mature newspaper markets additional revenue brings between 7 and 20 per cent of overall revenue,” said Peyrègne.

Global readership

More than 2.7 billion of adults are reading newspapers in print globally. Digital newspaper readership is growing, and in some of the most developed economies readership on all digital platforms has surpassed the number of readers in print. World Press Trends analysis estimates that at least 40 per cent of global Internet users read newspapers online.

The challenge for the industry remains the combined measurement of reach and influence of newspaper content on all platforms with new metrics.

A comprehensive list of the survey’s findings is published on WAN-IFRA's website.

About World Press Trends database

World Press Trends, the leading source of newspaper data and trends globally, has been published by WAN-IFRA since 1989. The data is compiled in an interactive database and in an annual report, both available to WAN-IFRA members without charge. For non-members, WAN-IFRA offers the database by individual access, on an annual subscription basis, and IP access that allows companies, universities or libraries to provide access to any number of users. Full details can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/wpt.

World News Media Congress 2016, Cartagena

The World News Media Congress continues through Tuesday. Live updates are available on the conference blog at http://www.wan-ifra.org/congress_blog or via Twitter: live coverage @NewsConf, curated updates @NewspaperWorld and via the hashtags #wnc16 and #Editors16

About WAN-IFRA

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Frankfurt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.