THE IRISH TIMES increased its average daily readership by 1,000, or 0.3 per cent, to 319,000 during the 12 months to the end of June compared with the same period last year, new figures show.

The Irish Independent lost an average of 82,000 readers a day, a year-on-year decline of 13.9 per cent, in the same period, according to the latest figures from the Joint National Readership Survey (JNRS) which gauged newspaper readership from July 2007 to June 2008.

The Irish Independent had an average daily readership of 508,000 over the period - its lowest figure in at least a decade - down from 590,000 a year earlier.

The Irish Examiner lost 18,000 readers, or 7 per cent, giving it an average readership of 238,000.

These figures are the first like-for-like comparisons on a 12-month basis under the new JNRS methodology.

The JNRS now uses the GeoDirectory sampling base of 1.7 million home addresses. Up until the first half of 2006, it used the electoral register as its sample.

Just in excess of three million people, or 86.2 per cent of adults, read a newspaper during the week, though this has fallen from more than 3.1 million, or 89.5 per cent, during the same period last year.

Some 55.8 per cent of adults, or 1.967 million people, read a daily newspaper, while 2.5 million or 71.8 per cent read a Sunday paper.

Among the tabloid newspapers, the Irish Daily Mirror enjoyed the biggest gain, adding 36,000 readers and increasing its readership by 19.2 per cent to 219,000.

The Irish Daily Star added 27,000 readers on average, increasing its readership by 6.2 per cent to 460,000. The Sun's readership rose 0.3 per cent to 289,000, while the Daily Mail had an average of 131,000 readers.

The Evening Herald increased its readership by 9,000, or 2.9 per cent, to 317,000.

In the Sunday market, the Irish News of the World recorded the largest gain, adding 28,000 readers and increasing its readership by 5.2 per cent to 566,000.

The Sunday World increased its readership by 4.8 per cent to 932,000.

The Sunday Business Post added an average of 4,000 readers, increasing its readership by 2.5 per cent to 162,000.

The Sunday Tribune had 38,000 fewer readers in the 12 months to the end of June compared with the same period last year.

Its readership fell 17.7 per cent to 177,000 readers.

The readership of the Sunday Independent fell below one million for the first time in a decade, though it is still the most-read newspaper on a Sunday.

The newspaper lost 69,000 readers, or 6.6 per cent, giving it a readership of 972,000, down from 1.041 million a year earlier.

The Sunday Times had a readership of 343,000, down 5.2 per cent or 19,000 readers.

A breakdown of the JNRS figures shows that the Irish Independent lost 49,000 female and 33,000 male readers.

It shed 20,000 readers in Dublin and 40,000 in the rest of Leinster.

The Irish Times again scored highly among the affluent AB audience, recording 142,000 readers, or 44.5 per cent of its readership, to the Irish Independent's 90,000, or 17.7 per cent of its readers.

The Irish Times is also more popular in Dublin, where it had 171,000 readers, or 53.6 per cent of its readership, compared with the Irish Independent's 132,000, or 26 per cent of its readers.

The Irish Times has 216,000 readers in the greater Dublin area, or 67.7 per cent of its readership, compared with the Irish Independent's 186,000, or 36.6 per cent of its readers.