The concept of newspapers has been around since ancient times. A newspaper informs its readers about current events in all sorts of areas of interest. In newer times of human history, newspapers have traditionally been printed in black ink on white to grey paper. The most-read newspapers usually got published and still get published on a daily basis.
Now, in today’s digital era, newspaper readership has largely shifted to the internet. In addition to its print version, almost every newspaper publication nowadays has an online version. Unlike the print versions, the online versions of newspapers don’t just get published every day, they get updated several times per day. Whenever something newsworthy happens, you can expect to read about it on the online site of the newspaper within an hour or so.
Despite this increasing shift to the online realm, printed newspapers still very much exist. The world’s most-read newspapers usually reach millions of readers with both their print and online versions.
The following ranking lists the Top 10 Most-Read Newspapers in the world by the number of daily readers. The number of readers of the print versions is determined by the number of the respective newspaper’s daily circulation, while the number of online readers by the average number of unique users that visit the newspaper’s online editions on a daily basis.
Top 10 Most-Read Newspapers in the World 2022
1. The New York Times
The New York Times
Average Daily Readers: ~ 14.5 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 9.1 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 5.4 million
(Main version) Language: English
Year founded: 1851
Based in: New York City, New York, USA
Owned by: The New York Times Company
2. Yomiuri Shimbun
Yomiuri Shimbun
(“Selling by Reading Newspaper”)
Average Daily Readers: ~ 7.8 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 7.0 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 0.8 million
(Main version) Language: Japanese
Year founded: 1874
Based in: Tokyo, Japan
Owned by: The Yomiuri Shimbun Group
3. The Washington Post
The Washington Post
Average Daily Readers: ~ 6.1 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 3.2 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 2.9 million
(Main version) Language: English
Year founded: 1877
Based in: Washington, D.C., USA
Owned by: Jeffrey Bezos (privately owned through ‘Nash Holdings’)
4. Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
(“Morning Sun Newspaper”)
Average Daily Readers: ~ 5.6 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 4.4 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 1.2 million
(Main version) Language: Japanese
Year founded: 1879
Based in: Osaka, Japan
Owned by: The Asahi Shimbun Company
5. The Guardian
The Guardian
Average Daily Readers: ~ 5.1 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 0.9 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 4.2 million
(Main version) Language: English
Year founded: 1821
Based in: London, England, UK
Owned by: Scott Trust Limited
6. The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
Average Daily Readers: ~ 5.0 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 3.7 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 1.3 million
(Main version) Language: English
Year founded: 1889
Based in: New York City, New York, USA
Owned by: News Corporation
7. Dainik Bhaskar
Dainik Bhaskar
(“Daily Sun”)
Average Daily Readers: ~ 4.7 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 4.5 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 0.2 million
(Main version) Language: Hindi
Year founded: 1948
Based in: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
Owned by: D B Corp Ltd.
8. Daily Mail
Daily Mail
Average Daily Readers: ~ 4.5 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 0.9 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 3.6 million
(Main version) Language: English
Year founded: 1896
Based in: London, England, UK
Owned by: The Harmsworth Family (privately family-owned through ‘Daily Mail and General Trust’)
9. Cankao Xiaoxi
Cankao Xiaoxi
(“Reference News”)
Average Daily Readers: ~ 4.4 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 4.3 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 0.1 million
(Main version) Language: Mandarin Chinese
Year founded: 1931
Based in: Beijing, China
Owned by: The People’s Republic of China (state-owned through ‘Xinhua News Agency‘)
10. The Times of India
The Times of India
Average Daily Readers: ~ 4.2 million
Average Daily Print/Digital circulation: ~ 3.4 million
Average Daily Online unique visitors: ~ 0.8 million
(Main version) Language: English
Year founded: 1838
Based in: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Owned by: The Sahu Jain Family (privately family-owned through ‘Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd.’)
The Top 10 Most-Read Newspapers in the World
(as of 2022)
[wptb id=8940]The Top 10 most-read newspapers in the world by the number of total daily readers. The numbers include readers of the print and digital versions of the newspapers as well as online visitors to the newspapers’ official websites. Online visitors are measured by unique visitors based on statistics provided by SEMRUSH.