The Australian has enjoyed a 2.5 per cent increase in total paid sales in the past year to become the best-performing major newspaper in the country. 
Figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations today reveal total paid sales of The Australian of 168,678 for the three months to   December 31, compared with 164,619 in the same period of 2014. A 14 per cent jump in digital subscribers to 75,018 over the year more than offset a modest 2.6 per cent fall in print sales to 102,068. Total sales of The Australian and The Weekend Australian rose between the   September and   December quarters.
In contrast, The Australian's competitors suffered major falls in their print circulation over the year and none recorded growth in total print and digital sales.
Weekday print sales of The Australian Financial Review crashed by 10.5 per cent to 51,425, half The Australian's circulation. The AFR's digital sales are not audited. Weekday print sales of The Sydney Morning Herald were down 9.1 per cent, while The Age in Melbourne suffered an 8.7 per cent slump and now sells fewer than 100,000 copies a day.
Total paid sales of The Weekend Australian were off just 0.9 per cent, at 274,488 over the year, with print sales down just 1.2 per cent. Print sales of the weekend editions of TheSMH, The Age and TheAFR were all down between 7.5 and 8 per cent.
BUSINESS P22