The circulation of Britain's biggest-selling newspaper has dropped below the three-million mark for the first time in more than 30 years.
According to the ABC national newspaper figures for December, sales of the Sun dipped under the psychologically-important figure last month.
The paper's net circulation per publishing day was 2.986 million, down 3.01 per cent on November's figures and the third successive monthly fall experienced by the paper.
All other newspapers, apart from the Financial Times, also dropped in December, with the Daily Star faring worst with a fall of 3.58 per cent to 726,000
It adds to the growing consensus among analysts that newspaper circulation in the UK is on a downward trend, with readers dwindling as younger Britons turn to the internet and TV for their news.
But media expert Roy Greenslade, a former editor of the Daily Mirror and ex-assistant editor at The Sun, believes the decrease is not a surprise and predicted figures will go up again this month.
"[The drop has] been on the cards for a long time so it’s hardly a shock," he told the Today programme after the Sun saw its lowest sales figures since 1974.
"I think it is a psychological landmark when you go through one of these million barriers but The Sun had been gripping on for about two years now.
"So they’ve done everything they can: they’ve cut their price, they’ve promoted their paper, they’ve even put street vendors out in London, but none of it’s worked because the underlying market is just not there for the paper anymore."
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