Total figures on daily newspaper circulation in Germany further confirm a decrease in copies printed, with 12.3 million recorded in 2021. For comparison, ten years earlier over 19 million copies were printed, which also already followed annual drops in numbers. Even the Sunday edition of Germany's best-known tabloid, Bild am Sonntag, was struggling with paid circulation in recent years. Meanwhile, monthly unique user numbers on the Bild website, though fluctuating, recorded periodical growth. The latter may be attributable to the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic in Germany, with readers spending longer periods of time at home or even being quarantined. Süddeutsche Zeitung and Zeit Online, both national newspapers, were among the leading news websites in Germany, though lower on the list compared to Bild. Digital newspapers had the highest reach among the 30-49 age group.
The Bild national daily edition recorded the biggest reach by far among German readers, followed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the FAZ. The German population still reads newspapers in their free time several times weekly, though these numbers have been decreasing in the last four years. In 2020, almost 26.54 million people in Germany lived in a household with a daily newspaper subscription.
