Yesterday the figures from the World Association of Newspapers' survey on newspaper circulation and new daily titles were widely quoted as proof that the industry is booming. This is misleading. Andrew Grant-Adamson expertly debunks the spin put on the survey: 'this comes as no surprise to anyone who has noted the boom in Asia and Africa fueled by increasing prosperity and better education....Set aside the boom in Asia and Africa which is well-known, and look at what is happening in Europe. The 2005 figures were boosted by the distribution of more than 9 million free papers a day. Paid for sales in Europe declined by 6.3% in 2001-5 (Other figures are North America -4.47%, South America -7.29% and Australia and Oceania -3.04%).' In other words, not that much to cheer for.

This European downward trend in paid for sales is further supported by the latest poll on newspaper readership in Denmark, where seven freesheets are competing with the paid-for-titles for advertisement and readers. A year-on-year comparison for January shows readership for two of the country's top paid for morning papers were down with 16pc (Jyllands-posten) and 10pc (Berlingske) respectively (via Berlingske, in Danish)