THE Irish News is the best performing daily newspaper in Ireland, according to the latest figures.
The paper had a circulation of 40,842 for the first six months of this year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation's (ABC) Island of Ireland Report.
That's a drop of 0.2 per cent over the period and three per cent down on the same time last year - better than any other daily title in Ireland.
The Belfast Telegraph had a circulation of 49,228, down almost nine per cent on 2012 while the News Letter dropped 6.5 per cent to 20,755.
The number of copies of The Irish News that were actively purchased was 40,602, extending the paper's lead over the Belfast Telegraph which had 38,018 active purchases a day on average.
Irish News editor Noel Doran said: "We are very encouraged that we have again increased our share of the market during a difficult time for the newspaper industry.
"It is the loyalty of our readers which has made our overall performance the best of any daily title in Ireland, north or south, and we fully intend to build on this in the coming months."
Every daily newspaper in the Republic also experienced a decline in circulation.
The Irish Independent remained the most popular paper although its circulation fell by 3.9 per cent to 123,981.
Its nearest rival the Irish Times fared much worse, however, recording a circulation of 88,356, a fall of nine per cent.
The Herald fell back 4.3 per cent to 58,545 while the Irish Examiner dropped 5.8 per cent to 37,897.
Irish News marketing manager John Brolly said the figures were "another robust performance by The Irish News and testament to the quality of the paper and loyalty of our readers".
"Our sales position is a reflection of the trust that our readers have with The Irish News as a credible news source which is becoming more important to them with so many options available. The Irish News has been recognised for it's quality journalism and this stamp of trust has never been as significant as it is today," he said.
"The Irish News offers readers excellent daily news coverage across news, sport, business, education, health, lifestyle and importantly opinion and thankfully we are seeing that in the strength of our performance."
According to the TGI NI Reader-ship 2013 report released earlier this month, The Irish News had 155,000 readers on a daily basis.
The figures showed the paper in increasingly popular with younger people with 25,000 readers between the ages of 15 and 24 - up from 14,000 last year.
The title's reach to unique readers - those who don't read other Northern Ireland dailies - has also improved, from 124,000 to 136,000 this year.
n BEST PERFORMING DAILY: The Irish News had a circulation of 40,842 for the first six months of the year with 40,602 copies actively purchased