However, its parent title The Independent recorded the biggest year-on-year circulation drop of 54.28%. The daily publication has seen constant decreases in circulation each month since the beginning of 2012, starting the year with a circulation of 105,160, compared to its most recent 83,619.
All newspaper sectors recorded a fall in circulation, with dailies dropping 8.9% since July 2011, compared to a marginal decline of less than 1% month-on-month. Sunday papers fared slightly better, recording a 1.5% drop in circulation since last July and 1.2% since June 2012.
Meanwhile, The Daily Star received its first month-on-month circulation boost since the beginning of the year in the same month that The Sun hiked up its cover price.
News International’s top-selling daily tabloid reported deflated sales figures for July, during which it raised its cover price from 30p to 40p, its first price increase since 2008.
The Daily Star saw a rise of 3.5% from June, raising its circulation to 623,534, while The Sun dropped its distribution by 1.7%, averaging 2.6m each publishing day throughout July.
The Sun on Sunday, launched in February, also saw a month-on-month circulation decline of 1.5% to 2.2m. However, Daily Star Sunday dropped circulation to 456,429 for July, a 3.6% fall from June’s figures.
News International's parent company News Corp, reported a $1.6bn loss for its first quarter due to investigations into discontinued newspaper News of the World.
