The New Zealand Herald’s readership has again increased, driven by interest in its weekend editions.

Weekday readership increased by 1.7 per cent, while the Weekend Herald gained an additional 30,000 readers, a 7.3 per cent jump.

The Herald on Sunday remains the best-read Sunday newspaper, with 311,000 readers, an increase of 10,000, or just over 3 per cent.

“We’re proud to produce publications people want to read and engage with on their precious weekends,” said Herald Weekend editor Miriyana Alexander.

The Herald’s magazine inserts showed particular growth, with Bite readership up 6.4 per cent and Canvas 8.3 per cent.

Weekday editor Murray Kirkness said the “across the board” increase in newspaper magazines “shows we’re hitting different target audiences”.

Strong population growth in Auckland may be partially responsible for the increased readership.

NZME chief commercial officer Laura Maxwell said the new figures were a testament to the quality of the publications.

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) regional newspapers are now read by 164,000 people, an increase of 2000 readers.

*NZME are also the owners of Newstalk ZB