Readership of magazines is up 3.6% from a year ago with increases for 12/16 magazine categories

15.1 million Australians read magazines in print or online

Now 11.7 million Australians aged 14+ (53.0%) read print magazines, up 3.6 per cent on a year ago, according to the results released today from the Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to December 2023.

This market broadens to 15.1 million Australians aged 14+ (68.6%) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app, which is up 0.8% on a year ago. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 64,994 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to December 2023.

Print readership increased for an exceptional 12 magazine categories compared to a year ago

The increases in readership were widespread over the last year with a large majority of magazine categories (12 in total) increasing their readership. The final pandemic-era restrictions were lifted by October 2022.

There were five magazine categories to increase their total readership by more than 100,000 people compared to a year ago led by the most widely read magazine category of all, Food & Entertainment magazines, which increased its print readership by an impressive 5.3 per cent to 7,616,000.

The second most widely read category of Home & Garden magazines increased their readership by a large 9.2 per cent to 4,283,000 and General Interest magazines were up 0.4 per cent to 4,147,000.

There were also improvements for Mass Women’s magazines, up 3.1 per cent to 2,816,000, Business, Financial & Airline magazines, up a large 27.9 per cent to 1,371,000, Women’s Fashion Magazines, up 16 per cent to 1,015,000, TV Magazines, up 13.6 per cent to 633,000, Sports Magazines, up 26.8 per cent to 545,000, Computing, Gaming & Info Tech Magazines, up 16.1 per cent to 306,000, Fishing Magazines, up 28.3 per cent to 278,000 and Music & Movies Magazines, up 6.1 per cent to 237,000.

Nine of the top 10 magazines increased their print readership over the past year with Better Homes & Gardens and The Australian Women’s Weekly again the most widely read paid magazines

An impressive nine of the top 10 most widely read magazines increased their print readership over the last year and looking more broadly an impressive 21 out of the top 25.

Better Homes & Gardens is Australia’s most widely read paid magazine with print readership of 1,832,000, up 8.5 per cent on a year ago ahead of the The Australian Women’s Weekly on 1,299,000, up 3.3 per cent.

In the top ten magazines the biggest improver from a year ago is the National Geographic which has increased its readership by an impressive 15.1 per cent to 1,017,000 and is one of only three paid magazines with a readership of over 1 million.

Two other paid magazines in the top ten have increased their print readership over the last year led by Woman’s Day, up 3.2 per cent to 792,000 and House & Garden with a large increase of 12.4 per cent to 688,000.

Fresh Ideas & Coles magazine are the most widely read with over 5 million readers each

Australia's two most widely read free magazines are Coles magazine with a growing print readership of 5,143,000, up 5.7 per cent on a year ago, and now just ahead of Fresh Ideas (from Woolworths), up 6.4 per cent to 5,104,000.

Bunnings magazine is the third most widely read free magazine with a print readership of 1,871,000, up 14.6 per cent on a year ago, ahead of the NRMA’s magazine Open Road (NSW) which rounds out the top four free magazines with a readership of 1,274,000.

Other magazines to increase their print readership over the past year included Road Ahead (Qld), up 2.1 per cent to 658,000, That’s Life! Mega Monthly, up 7.9 per cent to 579,000, Qantas Magazine, up 32.5 per cent to 508,000 (the largest increase of any of the top 15 most widely read magazines as Australians returned to travelling), That’s Life!, up 3.4 per cent to 494,000, Take 5 (Weekly), up 0.7 per cent to 486,000, Vogue Australia, up a large 27.7 per cent to 481,000, Gardening Australia, up 7.1 per cent to 472,000, Australian Geographic, up 6.7 per cent to 465,000, Home Beautiful, up 40 per cent to 410,000, AFL Record, up 47.6 per cent to 401,000, TV Week, up 1.5 per cent to 383,000, Street Machine, up 3.3 per cent to 308,000 and Delicious, up 9.4 per cent to 305,000.

Top 25 Magazines by print readership – December 2023 (Magazines in bold are up on a year ago)

Full Magazine Print Readership Results available to view here.
The five most read categories of magazines by print readership

• Food & Entertainment (7,616,000 Australians, 34.6% of the population);
• Home & Garden (4,283,000 Australians, 19.5% of the population);
• General Interest (4,147,000 Australians, 18.8% of the population);
• Mass Women’s (2,816,000 Australians, 12.8% of the population);
• Business, Financial & Airline (1,371,000 Australians, 6.2% of the population).

Food & Entertainment magazines number one with total print readership of over 7.6 million

Food & Entertainment is again Australia's best performing magazine category and is now read by 7,616,000 Australians, or 34.6% of the population – over 3 million ahead of any other category. This is an increase of almost 400,000, up 5.3 per cent, on a year ago with an impressive six out of the seven titles in the category increasing their print readership compared to a year ago.

The free supermarket titles remain the clear leaders in the category led by Coles magazine read by 5,143,000 Australians, up 278,000 (up 5.7 per cent) on a year ago, just ahead of Fresh Ideas (Woolworths) with a print readership of 5,104,000, up 306,000 (up 6.4 per cent).

There were also increases for Delicious, up 9.4 per cent to 305,000, Australian Gourmet Traveller, up 4.9 per cent to readership of 221,000, Cooking with Australian Women’s Weekly, up 46.7 per cent to a readership of 143,000 and New Idea Food, up 18.4 per cent to 122,000.

Home & Garden magazines are in second place and read by almost 4.3 million Australians

Home & Garden magazines are now read by 4,283,000 Australians, up a large 361,000 (up 9.2 per cent) on a year ago accounting for almost one-in-five Australians (19.5% of the population). There were a majority of twelve (out of 16) magazines in the category to increase their print readership on a year ago.

Australia’s most widely read paid magazine is again Better Homes & Gardens with a print readership of 1,832,000 – well over 1.1 million more than any other paid magazine in the category and up 8.5 per cent on a year ago.

The most widely read Home & Garden magazine is the freely available Bunnings magazine which is now read by 1,871,000, up 14.6 per cent on a year ago, and is the only other magazine in the category with a readership over 1 million.

Other well-known and widely read magazines in this category include House & Garden with a growing readership of 688,000, up 12.4 per cent on a year ago, Gardening Australia with a readership of 472,000, up 7.1 per cent on a year ago, Home Beautiful with a readership of 410,000, up 40 per cent on a year ago and Vogue Living with a readership of 252,000, up 13.7 per cent on a year ago.

Other magazines to grow their print readership over the last year were Country Style, up 3.2 per cent to 190,000, Organic Gardener, up 5.6 per cent to 166,000, Inside Out, up 11.5 per cent to 135,000, Australian Country Homes, up 31.7 per cent to 104,000, Home Design, up 10.2 per cent to 95,000 and Kitchens & Bathrooms, up 13.6 per cent to 65,000.

Print readership of General Interest magazines up 0.4% to over 4.1 million

4,147,000 Australians, or 18.8% of the population, read at least one of the general interest magazines in the year to December 2023 and a majority of 8/14 magazines increased their print readership.

National Geographic was the clear standout magazine and increased its readership by an impressive 15.1 per cent to 1,017,000 to be one of only three paid magazines read by over 1 million Australians

Other magazines to increase their readership were Australian Geographic with a print readership of 465,000 (up 6.7 per cent), Big Issue, up 16.3 per cent to 305,000, RM Williams Outback, following an increase of 4.2 per cent to 206,000 and Cosmos, up 18.2 per cent to 125,000.

There were also strong performances by motoring club magazines: Open Road (NSW) read by 1,274,000, Road Ahead (Qld), up 2.1 per cent to a readership of 658,000, Horizons (WA), up 5.2 per cent to 282,000, SA Move read by 175,000 and Journeys (Tasmania), up 5.1 per cent to 34,000.

Mass Women’s magazines are now read by over 2.8 million Australians – up 3.1 per cent

Mass Women’s magazines are now read by 2,816,000 Australians equal to 12.8 per cent of the population, and up 3.1 per cent on a year ago. The category includes seven magazines read by more than 450,000 people – more than any other category.

Easily the most widely read magazine in the category is The Australian Women’s Weekly with a print readership of 1,299,000, an increase of 3.3 per cent on a year ago ahead of second-placed Woman’s Day with a readership of 792,000, up 3.2 per cent on a year ago.

The popular ‘competition-focused’ magazines are also widely read led by That’s Life! Mega Monthly read by 579,000, up an impressive 7.9 per cent on a year ago, Take 5 Bumper Monthly with a readership of 545,000, Take 5 (Weekly) with a readership of 486,000, up 0.7 per cent on a year ago and That’s Life, up 3.4 per cent from a year ago and read by 494,000.

Another widely read magazine in the category is the third-placed New Idea with a readership of 574,000. The biggest percentage increase in the category was achieved by Royals Monthly (by New Idea) which, during a year in which Queen Elizabeth passed away and King Charles ascended to the throne, increased readership by 39,000, up 25.7 per cent on a year ago, to 262,000.

Business, Financial & Airline magazines increase their print readership by a stunning 27.9%

Overall the Business, Financial & Airline magazines category increased print readership by a stunning 27.9 per cent to 1,371,000 (6.2% of the population) over the last year. Even more impressively, all five continuing magazines increased their readership compared to a year ago.

The big mover in the category – and the only magazine in the category read by more than 300,000 people, was the Qantas Magazine, up a stunning 32.5 per cent to 508,000.

A new entrant to the category provided a significant boost to category readership with Forbes Australia read by 271,000 in 2023. Also recording out-sized growth was the third most widely read magazine in the category, Time, up an exceptional 28.1 per cent to 228,000.

Other magazines to increase their readership over the last year included Money Magazine, up 4.7 per cent to 222,000, The Monthly, up 6.8 per cent to 184,000 and New Scientist, up 3.1 per cent to 221,000.

Women’s Fashion, TV, Sports and Music & Movie magazines increase their readership

There was growth in several smaller magazine categories with the Women’s Fashion, TV, Sports, Music & Movies, Computing, Gaming & Info Tech, Fishing and Crafts categories all increasing their print readership in the 12 months to December 2023.

Women’s Fashion magazines performed well over the last year increasing category readership by 16 per cent to 1,015,000. All four continuing magazines increased their readership led by Vogue Australia, up by a category leading 27.7 per cent to 481,000, Marie Claire, up 8.9 per cent to 289,000, Frankie, up 11.6 per cent to 285,000 and Harper’s Bazaar, up 9.9 per cent to 160,000.

TV magazines also performed well, with category readership up 13.6 per cent to 633,000 with a large increase for Foxtel magazine, up 42.4 per cent to 290,000 recorded along with a solid increase for TV Week, up 1.5 per cent to a readership of 383,000.

Sports magazines have also had a good year, increasing category readership by an exceptional 26.8 per cent to 545,000. The big improver was the AFL Record (Apr-Sep), up an excellent 47.6 per cent to 401,000 and there was also a large increase for Golf Australia, up 39.1 per cent to 159,000.

Music & Movie magazines, which is essentially the Rolling Stone magazine, increased its readership by a solid 6.1 per cent to 237,000.

Other magazines to perform strongly included Play Australia Magazine, up 27.8 per cent to 118,000, PC PowerPlay, up 1.9 per cent to 88,000, Fishing World, up 11.4 per cent to 174,000, Fresh Water Fishing Australia, up a massive 72.7 per cent to 141,000, Quilters Companion, up 25.5 per cent to 72,000, Wellbeing, up 70.3 per cent to 288,000, Diabetic Living, up 11.1 per cent to 275,000, Prevention, up 9.7 per cent to 83,000, Wellbeing Wild, up 7.9 per cent to 48,000, Street Machine, up 3.3 per cent to 308,000, Wheels, up 11.6 per cent to 284,000, 4x4 Australia, up 6 per cent to 237,000 and Just Cars, up 1.4 per cent to 224,000.

Total cross-platform audiences for Woman’s Day, Better Homes & Gardens and The Australian Women’s Weekly all exceed more than 2 million people

Are Media’s Woman’s Day has the largest audience of any Australian magazine with a total cross-platform audience of almost 2.4 million people, just ahead of stablemate Better Homes & Gardens with over 2.3 million.

The Australian Women’s Weekly is also widely read and reaches a total cross-platform audience of well over 2 million people and is followed by New Idea with an audience of over 1.7 million.

In addition, other magazines with audiences of well over 1 million people include Take 5 (weekly) and TV Week with total audiences of well over 1.5 million, National Geographic with an audience of almost 1.4 million, Take 5 Bumper Monthly and with an audience of almost 1.3 million readers and a trio of magazines with audiences in excess of 1.1 million – Delicious, Time and House & Garden.

Top 15 Magazines – Total Cross-Platform Audience

Full Magazine Total Cross-Platform Audience results available to view here.

Total cross-platform audience includes print – average issue readership and digital – website visitation and app usage in an average 4 weeks. #For additional detail on the platforms available for each magazine visit the Roy Morgan website.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says readership of magazines has increased impressively over the last year with 12 magazine categories increasing their readership compared to a year ago:

To learn more about Roy Morgan’s Readership research, call (+61) (3) 9224 5309 or email askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.