According to the statistics, more than 1bn magazines were bought in the UK throughout last year.

The Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) said the fact that circulation of consumer magazines fell just 1.3% in the second half of 2009 showed a "passion" for magazines in the UK.

Several sectors in particular recorded impressive results. The athletics sector grew 38.3% in the second half of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008, while the camping, walking and climbing sector saw an 11.5% increase and cycling went up 11.8% in the same period .

However, Dave Emeny, group sales director, Wyndeham Press Group, warned: "We have certainly seen more resilience in the specialist interest sector of the market, but pagination has been reduced reflecting a difficult advertising market for our publisher customers."

PPA added that their own research suggested that around 85% of UK adults continue to buy magazines, in the face of increased competition from TV, radio and the internet.

Polestar director James Povey said: "In a world when we are constantly being bombarded by new technology communications it is great news for the print industry to see that the public always wants to flick through a good magazine. We are getting positive vibes from the publishers regarding pagination."

Despite fears over the future of print, 250 new magazine titles were launched in 2009, down by a single magazine from the 251 launches in the previous year.