Gareth Jones, PPA Magnetic Data & Insight Manager, reviews the latest PAMCo data and what it tells advertisers about the scale, interests and commercial value of trusted editorial brand audiences.

Reach at national scale
Magazine media reaches 34 million adults in the UK every month, 61% of the adult population. More than three times the audience who saw Taylor Swift’s global Eras Tour or five times the number of fans who attended the entire 2026 FIFA World Cup. The scale stands up against some of the biggest platforms too with trusted editorial brands reaching more UK adults each month than TikTok (30.7 million).

And this isn’t occasional reach. Nearly two in three monthly readers come back every week. Among the 8.2 million people who read across both print and digital, 83% read every week.

For advertisers, that’s national scale combined with a regular reading habit.

Print and digital, working together
Magazine brands reach audiences wherever they choose to read. Some 27.2 million adults engage with them online each month, more than LinkedIn’s monthly UK audience of 20.0 million, while 15.0 million read printed magazines.

The two formats work together:

  • 8.2 million read magazine brands across both print and digital
  • 19 million read only digitally – extending magazine media’s reach well beyond print
  • 6.8 million read only in print – a substantial audience that digital alone would miss

For advertisers, a magazine brand is now a combined audience across formats, with print bringing depth and digital bringing scale.

Magazine audiences are social audiences too
Magazine media and social platforms aren’t an either/or choice. People using the biggest social platforms are more likely than average to also read magazine media.

Of Instagram’s 42.7 million monthly UK users, 28.2 million also read magazine media and are 9% more likely than average to do so. The same pattern can be seen among users of TikTok (8% more likely), Facebook and Messenger (7%), X (12%) and LinkedIn (11%).

For planners, that makes magazine media a natural complement to social, reaching highly connected consumers in a different, trusted editorial environment.

Trusted spaces for life’s passions

Scale is only part of the story. The figures below show both the number of people reached and how much more likely people with each interest are to read magazine media than the average UK adult:

  • News: 17.9 million reached, 14% more likely than average
  • Food and Drink: 12.5 million reached, 23% more likely
  • Travel and Holidays: 10.7 million reached, 22% more likely
  • Health, Fitness and Wellbeing: 9.8 million reached, 20% more likely
  • Home ideas and DIY: 9.5 million reached, 25% more likely
  • Gardening: 7.5 million reached, 29% more likely, the strongest pull of any topic

These are passion points where people choose to spend time with specialist content, giving advertisers the opportunity to appear in an editorial context directly relevant to their category.

High value audiences at scale

The latest data also shows the purchasing power behind magazine media’s reach.

Some 21.0 million ABC1 adults read magazine media every month, including 17.3 million online. Magazine brands also reach 8.8 million Affluent Achievers, who are 19% more likely than average to read print.

And 26.6 million main shoppers read magazine media every month, giving advertisers a route to the people making purchasing decisions for their households.

Women are another significant audience: 19.6 million women read magazine media every month – 69% of all UK women. Print remains particularly strong, reaching 9.9 million women, who are 29% more likely than average to read a printed magazine.

Over-55s: reach and spending power

Over-55s are another major audience for trusted editorial brands, one with significant spending power.

  • 14.7 million read magazine media every month, 68% of all over-55s
  • Nearly half (47%) read every week, 22% more likely than the average adult
  • Print is especially strong, with over-55s 30% more likely than average to read a printed magazine

This isn’t only a print story. Over-55s are just as likely as 35-54 year olds to read magazine brands online (53% for both).

That matters commercially. The International Longevity Centre estimates over-50s account for 55% of UK consumer spending, yet 44% of UK adults told the ASA that older people are under-represented in advertising.

Why this matters

For advertisers, the latest PAMCo data tells a clear story. Trusted editorial brands offer national scale, substantial digital reach and distinctive print audiences, alongside highly engaged communities built around people’s interests and passions.

Affluent consumers: 21.0 million ABC1 adults read magazine media monthly, 17.3 million of them online. 8.8 million Affluent Achievers are reached each month, 19% more likely than average to read print.

Main shopper influence: 26.6 million main shoppers are reached every month, a direct line to the person making household purchasing decisions.

For more information about the latest PAMCo data contact gareth@magnetic.media or visit https://pamco.co.uk/

Source: PAMCo H2 2026 Jun’24 to Jun’26, fused with Jun’26 Ipsos iris data. Additional context: ONS and NRS mid-2024 population estimates; UK Parliament election results (July 2024); ILC longevity economy briefing (July 2026); ASA, The Depiction of Older People in Advertising (2025); ONS Labour Force Survey via House of Commons Library (Oct to Dec 2025); Channel 4 Mirror On The Industry (Sept 2025).