CHENNAI: Bucking the worldwide trend, the print media in India has grown by 61 per cent in the last 10 years, figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) show. Average sale of copies per day has increased from 3.91 crore in 2006 to 6.28 crore in 2016, according to figures published by the circulation watchdog.
The ABC, which certifies the circulation figures of publications every six months, reported that the print industry in India has been growing at an “incredible” CAGR of 4.87 per cent over the 10-year period, with 251 publishing centres added to the 659 back in 2006.
Growth has been strongest in north India, where print grew by 7.83 per cent CAGR during the period, followed by the south with 4.95 per cent. Much of the growth of the industry is due to the robust growth of regional titles, with Hindi publications topping the growth chart by a CAGR of 8.76 per cent followed by Telugu with 8.28 per cent.
English newspapers grew at the rate of 2.87 per cent in the same time. The ABC report drew upon projections by KPMG which indicated that print would hold its place as the second biggest media platform in India, next to TV, right into the 2020s. Print industry size is tipped to grow to Rs 431 crore by 2021, at a CAGR of 7.3 per cent.