In mid-2025 an impressive 2.7 million New Zealanders read newspapers and more than 1.6 million read magazines

Roy Morgan readership results for New Zealand’s newspapers and magazines for the 12 months to June 2025.

Of New Zealanders aged 14+ - 61.4%, an estimated 2.70 million, now read or access newspapers in an average 7-day period via print or online (website or app) platforms. In addition, 37.5% - an estimated 1.65 million New Zealanders aged 14+, read magazines whether in print or online either via the web or an app.

These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source survey of 6,233 New Zealanders aged 14+ over the 12 months to June 2025.

New Zealand Herald is most widely read, and nine out of the top ten titles grew their audiences

In the 12 months to June 2025 New Zealand’s most widely read publication is the New Zealand Herald reaching a total cross-platform audience of 1,812,000, up an impressive 96,000 (+5.6%) on a year ago. In a clear second place, reaching an audience of 355,000, is the Dominion Post, following an increase of 26,000 (+7.9%) on a year ago.

Two stand-out titles experienced strong audience growth in audience over the past year. Third placed Otago Daily Times grew its audience by 37,000 (+13.9%) to 304,000, and fourth-placed The Press, up 3,000 (+1.1%) to 267,000.

Filling out the top six was the Waikato Times with an audience of 197,000, an increase of 21,000 (+11.9%) on a year ago and the Hawke’s Bay Today with an audience of 193,000, up 72,000 (+59.5%).

The four other newspapers in the top ten were led by the Sunday Star-Times with an audience of 182,000 ahead of the Bay of Plenty Times, up 48,000 (+40%) to 168,000, the Northern Advocate, up 41,000 (+35.3%) to 157,000 and the Taranaki Daily News, up 7,000 (+5.9%) to 125,000.

Top 10 Newspapers – Total 7 Day Cross-Platform Audience (Print & Online)

Full Newspaper Readership Results available to view here.

*Cross-Platform Audience is the number of New Zealanders who have read or accessed individual newspaper content via print or online. Print is net readership in an average 7 days. Online is net readership online in an average 7 days.

25 magazines increased their ‘average issue print readership’ in the year to June 2025

Roy Morgan New Zealand’s latest figures show that a majority of 25 of the 49 magazines measured increased their print readership during the year to June 2025 compared to a year earlier.

New Zealand’s most widely read magazine is the driving magazine AA Directions which had an average issue readership of 367,000 in the year to June 2025 – more than 100,000 ahead of any other magazine.

Another star performer was New Zealand Listener to which increased its readership in the last year and is clearly second-placed with an average issue readership of 224,000, up 5,000 on a year ago.

In third place is NZ Woman’s Day with a print readership 130,000, to be just ahead of Dish, which increased its print readership by a massive 39,000 to 125,000 and Kia Ora (Air New Zealand’s inflight magazine) with a print readership of 123,000.

Filling out the top eight most widely read magazines is Fish & Game NZ with a print readership of 116,000, up 12,000 on a year ago, and Australian Women’s Weekly (NZ Edition) with a readership of 115,000, up a significant 27,000 on a year ago, and the TV Guide with a readership of 115,000.

There were also notable print readership increases for the widely read Cuisine, up 18,000 to 95,000, and NZ House & Garden, up 7,000 to a print readership of 94,000.

Other magazines to grow their readership significantly are led by Heritage NZ, up 24,000 to 63,000, Metro, up 21,000 to 48,000, NZ Outdoor Hunting, up 20,000 to 50,000, Home NZ, up 16,000 to 45,000, and Better Homes & Gardens, up 12,000 to 30,000.

There were 14 other magazines with increases to their average issue print readership led by Mindfood, up 6,000 to a readership of 72,000, New Idea, up 6,000 to 60,000, Property Press, up 5,000 to 54,000, NZ Geographic, up 7,000 to 45,000, Kiwi Gardener, up 2,000 to 39,000, Grapevine, up 7,000 to 35,000, Reader’s Digest, up 6,000 to 34,000, NZ Fashion Quarterly, up 6,000 to 34,000, Art News NZ, up 9,000 to 33,000, Avenues, up 5,000 to 31,000, Good, up 8,000 to 28,000, NZ Autocar, up 2,000 to 14,000, The Shed, up 1,000 to 14,000 and Tots to Teens, up 5,000 to 13,000.

New Zealand’s Top 10 Magazines by Average Issue Print Readership

Full Readership Results for over 50 New Zealand Magazines available to view here.

*Roy Morgan has measured additional readership for this magazine via Cross-Platform Audiences – see next section.

There was strong growth for magazine total cross-platform audiences over the last year with increases across the board for a suite of leading magazines

Roy Morgan’s latest total cross-platform audience figures for 19 leading magazines show that all 19 magazines tracked grew their cross-platform audiences compared to a year ago.

AA Directions is still easily New Zealand’s most widely read magazine with a market-leading total cross-platform audience of 493,000 – up 21,000 (+4.4%) from a year ago and with a total cross-platform audience more than 200,000 greater than any other magazine.

The second most widely read magazine is New Zealand Listener whichincreased its total cross-platform audience by 27,000 (+10.8%) to 278,000 ahead of the third most widely read Dish with a total cross-platform audience which increased by a massive 83,000 (+53.9%) to 237,000.

Rounding out the top five are Fish & Game NZ, with a total cross-platform audience which increased by 51,000 (+34.7%) to 198,000 and NZ Women’s Day with an increase of 10,000 (+5.5%) to 192,000.

There were also significant increases for sixth placed Australian Women’s Weekly NZ Edition, up 58,000 (+43.9%) to 190,000, Mindfood, up by 47,000 (+33.3%) to 188,000, the TV Guide, up 26,000 (+17.7%) to 173,000, NZ House & Garden, up 25,000 (+16.9%) to 173,000, and NZ Gardener, now in tenth place overall following an increase of 12,000 (+7.5%) to 171,000.

There were also increases for Habitat up by 26,000 (+19%) to an audience of 163,000, NZ Woman’s Weekly, up by 10,000 (+6.5%) to 163,000, North & South, up by 24,000 (+18.8%) to 152,000, Kiwi Gardener, up by a large 44,000 (+56.4%) to 122,000, Property Press, up by 20,000 (+23.5%) to 105,000, New Idea, up by 24,000 (+30.8%) to 102,000, Healthy Food Guide, up by 31,000 (+49.2%) to 94,000, That’s Life, up by 18,000 (+35.3%) to 69,000, and Time, up by 17,000 (+44.7%) to 55,000.

Top 10 Magazines – Total Cross-Platform Audience (Print & Online)

Full Magazine Readership Results available to view here.

*Cross-platform audience is the number of New Zealanders who have read or accessed individual magazine content via print or online. Print is average issue readership. Digital is average website visitation and app usage (if available) in last 7 days for weekly titles (New Idea, New Zealand Listener, NZ Woman's Day, NZ Woman's Weekly, Property Press, That's Life, Time, TV Guide) and last 4 weeks for all other non-weekly titles.

Canvas is again easily the most widely read Newspaper Inserted Magazine in mid-2025

The New Zealand Herald’s Canvas(North Island) was clearly the most widely read Newspaper Inserted Magazine over the past year with a readership of 206,000, an increase of 26,000 (+14.4%) on a year ago – over 50 per cent higher than any other magazine.

In second place is the widely read Weekend (North Island) with a readership of 115,000 following an increase of 14,000 (+13.9%) on a year ago just ahead of Sunday Magazine with a readership of 111,000, and Viva (North Island), also with a readership of 108,000.

Filling out the top six positions are fifth placed Your Weekend with a readership of 104,000 and up 6,000 on a year ago and the sixth placed Be Well (North Island)with a readership of 48,000.

New Zealand’s Leading Newspaper Inserted Magazines by Print Readership

Full Readership Results for over 50 New Zealand Magazines available to view here.

Michele Levine, Chief Executive Officer, Roy Morgan, says:

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To learn more about Roy Morgan’s Readership results for New Zealand call +61 (3) 9224 5309 or email askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.

About Roy Morgan

Roy Morgan is Australia’s largest independent Australian research company, with offices in each state, as well as in the U.S. and U.K. A full-service research organisation, Roy Morgan has over 80 years’ experience collecting objective, independent information on consumers.