More women now reading the Standard

The Evening Standard is attracting thousands of new women readers according to latest official figures.

The paper’s total average readership in the six months from April to September was 1.557 million, up three per cent on the previous year.

But the increase in the number of women reading the Standard was much greater — up nine per cent to 603,000, the National Readership Survey figures show.

The Standard’s readership is also getting younger with a 13 per cent rise in the 25-44 age group. They now account for more than half of all readers. The continuing success of the Standard comes in a year that saw the paper break into profit for the first time since its takeover by Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev in 2009; launch of the Ladder for London campaign helping the young unemployed find work; and win a clutch of prestigious awards. At the same time most other daily titles saw their readerships fall. The Daily Telegraph suffered a 10 per cent fall to 1.373 million, while The Times dropped seven per cent to 1.315 million. The Standard is now read by more people than any other newspaper in the quality daily sector.

The Standard’s readership has trebled since going free in October 2009 and the paper now has a circulation of just above 700,000. The Standard’s owner Evgeny Lebedev revealed last month that the title made a trading profit of just more than £1 million in its last financial year compared with annualised losses of £30 million before dropping the cover price. The Standard’s sister paper, i, has also bucked the trend with a 32 per cent rise in readership.