Readership of magazines is up from a year ago with increases for nine out of 16 magazine categories

Over 15 million Australians read magazines in print or online

Now 11.6 million Australians aged 14+ (52.3%) read print magazines, up 1.4 per cent on a year ago, according to the results released today from the Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to March 2024.

This market broadens to over 15 million Australians aged 14+ (67.6%) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app, which is up 0.1% on a year ago. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 64,597 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to March 2024.

Print readership increased for an exceptional 9 magazine categories compared to a year ago

The increases in readership were widespread over the last year with a majority of magazine categories (nine in total) increasing their readership.

There were three magazine categories to increase their total readership by more than 100,000 people compared to a year ago led by the second most widely read magazine category of all, Home & Garden Magazines, which increased its print readership by an impressive 3.9 per cent to 4,251,000.

The most widely read magazine category continues to be Food & Entertainment Magazines with a massive readership of 7,487,000, up 1 per cent on a year ago and reaching over a third of the population.

The third most widely read category of General Interest Magazines were up 0.9 per cent to 4,159,000 while the fifth most widely read, Business, Financial & Airline Magazines, soared by 24.9 per cent to 1,402,000. (This category now includes Forbes Australia (with 265,000 readers) which was not measured 12 months ago).

There were also improvements for Women’s Fashion Magazines, up 8.9 per cent to 999,000, Motoring Magazines, up 0.5 per cent to 924,000, Sports Magazines, up 25.5 per cent to 557,000, Fishing Magazines, up 39.3 per cent to 313,000 and Computing, Gaming & Info Tech Magazines, up 8.1 per cent to 299,000.

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

An impressive six of the top 10 most widely read magazines increased their print readership over the last year and, looking more broadly, a majority of 14 of the top 25 have higher print readership than a year ago.

Better Homes and Gardens is Australia’s most widely read paid magazine with print readership of 1,800,000, up 0.4 per cent on a year ago ahead of the The Australian Women’s Weekly on 1,266,000.

National Geographic is the third most widely read paid magazine and increased print readership by 5 per cent from a year ago to 1,004,000 and is one of only three paid magazines with a readership of over 1 million.

In the top ten magazines the biggest improver from a year ago among the paid magazines is House & Garden which has increased its readership by an impressive 7.2 per cent to 694,000. Woman’s Day remains one of Australia’s most widely read magazines with an impressive print readership of 755,000.

Fresh Ideas & Coles magazine are the most widely read magazines again in early 2024

Australia's two most widely read free magazines are Coles magazine, with a growing print readership of 5,121,000, up 3 per cent on a year ago, just ahead of Fresh Ideas (from Woolworths) on 4,976,000.

Bunnings magazine is the third most widely read free magazine with a print readership of 1,898,000, up 13.5 per cent on a year ago, ahead of the NRMA’s magazine Open Road which rounds out the top four free magazines with a readership of 1,322,000, up 3.2 per cent on a year ago.

Other magazines to increase their print readership over the past year included Qantas Magazine, up 28.3 per cent to 529,000, Vogue Australia, up 12.4 per cent to 475,000, Gardening Australia, up 0.8 per cent to 455,000, AFL Record, up 47.6 per cent to 401,000 (the largest increase of any of the top 25 most widely read magazines), Home Beautiful, up 22.1 per cent to 387,000, Reader’s Digest Australia, up 10.3 per cent to 372,000, Delicious, up 19.8 per cent to 327,000 and Street Machine, up 0.3 per cent to 310,000.

Top 25 Magazines by print readership – March 2024 (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 (7,487,000 Australians, 33.7% of the population);
• Home & Garden (4,251,000 Australians, 19.1% of the population);
• General Interest (4,159,000 Australians, 18.7% of the population);
• Mass Women’s (2,750,000 Australians, 12.4% of the population);
• Business, Financial & Airline (1,402,000 Australians, 6.3% of the population).

Food & Entertainment magazines number one with total print readership of almost 7.5 million

Food & Entertainment is again Australia's best performing magazine category and is now read by 7,487,000 Australians, or 33.7% of the population – over 3 million ahead of any other category. This is an increase of 71,000, up 1 per cent, on a year ago with an impressive five 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 5,121,000 Australians, up 147,000 (up 3 per cent) on a year ago, just ahead of Fresh Ideas (Woolworths) with a print readership of 4,976,000.

There were also increases for Delicious, up 19.8 per cent to 327,000, Australian Gourmet Traveller, up 8.9 per cent to readership of 232,000, Cooking with Australian Women’s Weekly, up 38.3 per cent to a readership of 152,000 and New Idea Food, up 18.8 per cent to 129,000.

Home & Garden magazines are in second place and read by well over 4.2 million Australians

Home & Garden magazines are now read by 4,251,000 Australians, up a large 161,000 (up 3.9 per cent) on a year ago accounting for almost one-in-five Australians (19.1% of the population). A majority of twelve (out of 16) magazines in the category increased print readership on a year ago.

Australia’s most widely read paid magazine is again Better Homes and Gardens with a print readership of 1,800,000 – well over 1.1 million more than any other paid magazine in the category and up 0.4 per cent on a year ago.

The most widely read Home & Garden magazine is the free title, Bunnings Magazine which is now read by 1,898,000, up 13.5 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 694,000, up 7.2 per cent on a year ago, Gardening Australia with a readership of 455,000, up 0.8 per cent on a year ago, Home Beautiful with a readership of 387,000, up 22.1 per cent on a year ago and Vogue Living with a readership of 248,000, up 7.2 per cent on a year ago.

Other magazines to grow their print readership over the last year were Country Style, up 20.9 per cent to 208,000, Inside Out, up 12.8 per cent to 129,000, Australian Country Homes, up 30 per cent to 114,000, Home Design, up 11.7 per cent to 97,000, Kitchens & Bathrooms, up 17.3 per cent to 63,000 and Australian Country, up 22.2 per cent to 62,000.

Print readership of General Interest magazines up 0.9% to over 4.1 million

4,159,000 Australians, or 18.7% of the population, read at least one of the general interest magazines in the year to March 2024 and a majority of 8 out of 14 magazines increased their print readership.

National Geographic was the clear standout magazine and increased its readership by an impressive 5 per cent to 1,004,000 to be one of only three paid magazines read by over 1 million Australians.

Other magazines to increase their readership were Reader’s Digest Australia, up 10.3 per cent to 372,000, the Big Issue, up 16.1 per cent to 304,000, RM Williams Outback, following an increase of 4.1 per cent to 206,000 and Vacations & Travel, up 24.7 per cent to 149,000.

There were also strong performances by motoring club magazines: Open Road (NSW/Vic/Qld), Australia’s fifth most widely read magazine with a readership of 1,322,000, up 3.2 per cent on a year ago, Road Ahead (Qld) with a readership of 631,000, Horizons (WA), up 2.9 per cent to 276,000, SA Move read by 156,000 and Journeys (Tasmania), up 5.9 per cent to 32,000.

Mass Women’s magazines are now read by 2.75 million Australians

Mass Women’s magazines are now read by 2,750,000 Australians equal to about one-in-eight Australians (12.4 per cent of the population). 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 1,266,000 ahead of second-placed Woman’s Day with a print readership of 755,000 and New Idea with a print readership of 553,000.

The popular ‘competition-focused’ magazines are also widely read led by That’s Life! Mega Monthly read by 557,000, Take 5 Bumper Monthly with a readership of 526,000, That’s Life! with a readership of 485,000 and Take 5 (Weekly) with a readership of 469,000.

Business, Financial & Airline magazines increase their print readership by a stunning 24.9%

Overall, the Business, Financial & Airline magazines category increased print readership by a stunning 24.9 per cent to 1,402,000 (6.3% of the population) over the last year. A majority of three out of the 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 28.3 per cent to 529,000.

A new entrant to the category provided a significant boost to category readership with Forbes Australia read by 265,000 in the 12 months to March 2024.

There was also growth for Time, up an exceptional 15.9 per cent to 219,000, and New Scientist, up 5.4 per cent to 219,000 – the two magazines tied as the third most widely read in the category.

Women’s Fashion, Motoring, Sports and Fishing magazines increase their readership

There was growth in several smaller magazine categories with the Women’s Fashion, Motoring, Sports, Fishing and Computing, Gaming & Info Tech categories all increasing their print readership in the 12 months to March 2024.

Women’s Fashion magazines performed well over the last year increasing category readership by 8.9 per cent to 999,000. The largest increase in readership in the category was for Vogue Australia, up by 12.4 per cent to 475,000. Also providing a significant boost was new entrant InStyle Australia with a readership of 125,000.

Motoring magazines have also had a good year, increasing category readership by 0.5 per cent to 924,000. All five magazines in the category increased their readership from a year ago led by Street Machine, up 0.3 per cent to 310,000 and Wheels, up 7.1 per cent to 286,000. Other magazines in the category to increase their readership were 4x4 Australia, up 2.3 per cent to 239,000, Just Cars, up 8.1 per cent to 229,000 and Unique Cars, up 0.9 per cent to 210,000.

Sports magazines have increased readership by 25.5 per cent to 557,000. All three magazines in the category increased their readership led by the AFL Record (Apr-Sep), up an excellent 47.6 per cent to 401,000, Golf Australia, up 23 per cent to 162,000 and Australian Golf Digest, up 10.2 per cent to 152,000.

Fishing magazines had the largest percentage increase of any category over the last year, up by 39.3 per cent to 313,000. Both magazines in the category increased their readership led by Fishing World, up 21.6 per cent to 190,000 and Fresh Water Fishing Australia, up 75.6 per cent to 159,000.

Other magazines to perform strongly included Wellbeing, up a stunning 52.7 per cent to 285,000, Diabetic Living, up 4.6 per cent to 280,000, Foxtel magazine, up 23.6 per cent to 276,000, PC PowerPlay, up 31.8 per cent to 105,000, Prevention, up 3.5 per cent to 82,000, Road Rider, up 6.2 per cent to 46,000 and Australian Adventure Bike Magazine, up 13.2 per cent to 44,000.

Total cross-platform audiences for Woman’s Day, Better Homes and Gardens, New Idea and The Australian Women’s Weekly all exceed more than 1.5 million people

Are Media’s Better Homes and Gardens and Woman’s Day have the largest audiences of any Australian magazines with total cross-platform audiences in excess of 2 million people. Better Homes and Garden is read by over 2.2 million people, just ahead of Woman’s Day at well over 2.1 million people.

New Idea is also widely read and reaches a total cross-platform audience of 1.6 million people followed by The Australian Women’s Weekly with an audience of more than 1.5 million readers. It is important to note that The Australian Women's Weekly has now launched its own stand-alone website offering a premium lifestyle experience for users and which will supercharge the brand for content commerce.

In addition, other magazines with audiences of well over 1 million people include National Geographic and Take 5 (weekly) with total audiences of well over 1.3 million, TV Week and Delicious with audiences well above 1.2 million, and a trio of magazines with audiences in excess of 1 million – Time, Take 5 Bumper Monthly 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 nine 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.

About Roy Morgan

Roy Morgan is Australia’s largest independent Australian research company, with offices in each state, as well as in the U.S. and U.K. A full-service research organisation, Roy Morgan has over 80 years’ experience collecting objective, independent information on consumers.