Digital news subscriptions prices have increased by an average of 3% in the UK for the second year running, according to Press Gazette analysis.
However many publications were offering discounts in January of up to 89%, indicating that many consumers may be able to avoid paying the full price.
Of 23 publications included in Press Gazette’s dataset both in January 2025 and January 2026, ten increased their annual digital subscription prices in the past year.
Six saw no change in annual price and seven reduced the cost of their digital subscription.
As a result the average percentage change among these 23 digital news subscriptions was 3%, close to the UK inflation rate of 3.6% (2.7% in the US) over the past 12 months.
This contrasts toUK national newspaper cover prices, which were up by an average of 10% in the past yearas publishers look to make up for falling newsstand sales and advertising.
From January 2024 to January 2025the average percentage change across 21 publications was also 3%.Butfrom 2023 to 2024 the price increases were much higher, at an average of 19%.
Press Gazette looked at the most comparable standard full-price digital subscription prices rather than premium packages with extra components. We also used full-priced packages rather than any discounts or trial periods (scroll down for more on these).
The biggest increase in price in the past year was at the Financial Times, whose standard digital option was already the most costly in our ranking. The FT’s full-priced standard digital subscription was £468 in January 2026, up from £369 in January 2025, although it was offering £279 for the first year.
The FT’s 26.8% increase was narrowly beaten in percentage terms by Bloomberg Media, which saw a 27.2% annual price increase from £235 to £299 (with a first-year trial of £115).
Source: Press Gazette
