THE TOTAL number of paid-for newspapers in the world has jumped by 13% over fiveyears,accordingtotheWorld Association of Newspapers (WAN).

Taking paid-for and free newspapers together, there was a 14% rise over 2001-2005, bringing the total number of newspapers across the world to above 10,000forthefirsttime,witha combineddistributionofmore than 450 million copies daily.

Total circulation of paid-for daily newspapers in the world increased by 6.39% over the five-year period.

Timothy Balding, chief executive of WAN, said: "The fashion of predicting the death of newpapers should be exposed for what it is - nothing more than a fashion, based on common assumptions that are belied by the facts."

He added: "The figures show that there has been a quiet revolution in the number of daily launches. This burgeoning growthof daily titles worldwide has largely gone unnoticed by market makers and media pundits obsessed with the digital media revolution."

However, the average circulation of paid-for dailies in Europe did show a decline of around 6.34% over the five-year period . In 2001, the average circulation of paid-for dailies in Europe stood at 96,786, according to WAN; in 2005, this was down at 90,654. But combining figures for paid-for and free-circulation papers showed a 14.24% increase in the five years to 2005 and a 3.31% increase between 2004 and 2005.

The total number of titles in Europe has also risen. In 2001 there were 2004 titles across the continent, rising by 13.77% to 2280 in 2005.

The figures also point to the success of free daily papers. The total free daily circulation more than doubled in the five-yearperiod.In2001,12million copies were given away free each day around the world. By 2005 this had risen to 28m, representing an increase of 137%.

The UK's Metro holds the number two slot in the rankings for the top 20 free dailies. Italy's Leggo holds the top position with just over a million copies a day. Metro's circulation was given as 977,000, while Spain's Que! is third with 964,000 copies.

Balding also noted the increased interest in new forms of newspapers. He said: "These trends also indicate the widespread but often overlooked innovation that is occurring in the newspaper industry. While much attention has been focused on digital development, the print product is also changing.

"Even in the most developed markets there has been a proliferation of new genres of newspapers, targeting new audiencesegmentsandgenerating creativemarketinganddistribution scenarios," he added. "The surge of new free titles thrust into the paid-for market is the result of many publishers rethinkingthecover-pricerevenuemodel which has been in place for more than 400 years."