The survey showed that newspaper circulations were generally on the increase in Asia and South America and on the decrease in Europe and North America.
Print media circulations have been declining for the seventh consecutive year in as many as 14 countries of the European Union, mostly in Slovakia, Greece, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.
In addition to Slovenia, circulation growth was also recorded in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Among non-EU countries that experienced drops in newspaper circulation, Croatia was followed by Norway and Switzerland, while Turkey, a candidate for EU membership, saw an increase in newspaper circulation of as much as 52.5 per cent.
WAN Director-General Timothy Balding said that newspaper circulations were on the rise globally, new markets were developing, the share of free newspapers was increasing, and advertising revenues were up.
According to data supplied by Croatian newspaper analyst Ante Gavranovic, the overall number of daily newspapers sold last year reached nearly 440 billion copies, and when free dailies are added, the number rises to some 465 billion copies.