Arlington, Va. – Newspapers improved upon their website traffic in the first quarter of 2012 with a 4.4 percent increase year-over-year in adult unique visitors (113 million) and a 10 percent increase in adult average daily visitors (25 million).

Further, newspapers achieved a more than 7 percent increase in unique visitors ages 21 to 34, with average daily visits by this age group up 17 percent and total visits rising by 15 percent, an analysis performed by the Newspaper Association of America with data provided by comScore reveals. Young audience engagement with newspaper websites also is demonstrated by a 10 percent increase in average daily visitors in the 18-to-24 age group.

Other key findings of NAA’s comScore analysis indicate that in the first quarter, unique visitors in the high-income bracket ($100,000 and above) are up more than 6 percent, with average daily visitors increasing by 15 percent and total minutes spent rising by more than 19 percent.

“Together with NAA’s new multiplatform usage study, which shows that 67 percent of those surveyed had accessed newspaper content via computers, smartphones and tablets in the past week, these numbers provide strong evidence that newspapers are making solid progress with their innovative efforts in the digital space,” said Caroline H. Little, NAA president and CEO. “These increases come even as more newspapers implement digital subscription strategies. In tracking newspapers that have been charging for digital content for a year or more, we found that 37 percent have experienced increases in unique visitors, with 24 percent reporting increases of 10 percent or more.”

Like the comScore data, NAA’s multiplatform study underscores young people’s growing preference for digital newspaper formats. Of those surveyed in the 18-to-34 age group, 24 percent said they read only print newspapers while 34 percent read both print and digital newspapers. For digital-only newspapers, the number jumps to 48 percent.

“Newspapers are working hard to deliver content where, and how, users want it,” Little said. “Clearly, users are responding. It’s especially gratifying to see the increases for website users in the younger and affluent groups, both of which are highly valued by our advertisers.”