In the official announcement system, circulation serves two separate functions: the threshold for preserving the right, and the criterion that increases the quota. The two must not be confused.
The Statutory Basis — Law 195, Art. 34
The qualities of the periodicals to which official announcements are to be given are determined by the General Assembly of the Press Advertisement Agency in respect of: a) content, b) the number and size of pages, c) the staff, ç) actual sales, d) the minimum period of publishing life, and of the other aspects that may be considered appropriate.
1. Minimum Actual Sales: The Threshold of the Right — Regulation Art. 44, Table-4
| Category | Sales (copies) | Minimum dealer sales rate and number | Minimum return rate and number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 3,000 | 50% — 1,500 | 5% — 75 |
| Category 2 | 1,600 | 50% — 800 | 5% — 40 |
| Category 3 | 400 | 50% — 200 | 5% — 10 |
| Category 4 | 400 | 40% — 160 | 5% — 8 |
| Category 5 | 300 | 30% — 90 | 5% — 4 |
| Category 6 | 100 | 30% — 30 | — |
Art. 44/2: national newspapers are obliged to fulfil the sales and return conditions stated for Category 1.
The Reality of the Sales — Art. 44/3
It is essential that the sales at the final point dealers have been made actually and one by one, with the exception of sales made more than once for reasonable and acceptable grounds.
Including Subscriptions in the Figure — Art. 44/4
- Subscriptions of less than 1 month are not taken into account.
- It is a condition that each issue be given to the subscription distributor with waybills, to be delivered to the subscribers by 09.00 on the day whose date it bears, and that this be documented.
- The number of newspapers for which a subscription invoice has been drawn up and which have been delivered in time is included in the daily actual sales.
| Actual sales of the newspaper | Natural person subscriber | Public institution, NGO, trade union, political party | Other legal persons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 copies | 1 | At most 10 | At most 5 |
| 1,000 and above | 1 | At most 20 | At most 10 |
We covered the detail in subscription sales and subscriber verification.
A Commission-Free Invoice Does Not Count — Art. 43/2
2. The Sales Additional Indicator: Increasing the Quota — Regulation Art. 51
(Amended phrase: Official Gazette 10/12/2025-33103) Of the national newspapers and the newspapers placed in Categories 1 and 2:
| Daily actual sales | At least, through dealers | Additional indicator rate |
|---|---|---|
| Above 10,000 copies | 3,000 | 1/3 |
| Above 25,000 copies | 5,000 | 1/2 |
| Above 50,000 copies | 10,000 | 1 time |
| Above 75,000 copies | 15,000 | 1.5 times |
| Above 100,000 copies | 20,000 | 2 times |
Of the local and regional newspapers placed in Categories 3, 4 and 5:
| Daily actual sales | At least, through dealers | Additional indicator rate |
|---|---|---|
| Above 1,000 copies | 500 | 1/6 |
| Above 2,500 copies | 1,000 | 1/4 |
| Above 5,000 copies | 2,000 | 1/3 |
| Above 10,000 copies | 3,000 | 1/2 |
We covered the detail in the sales additional indicator rates.
3. The Distribution Additional Indicator — Art. 50
An additional indicator at a rate of 1/3 is applied to national newspapers that offer the whole of the daily minimum actual sales figure for distribution on the same day in at least 70% of the country as a whole, being in at least one province in each geographical region together with the place of publication. We covered the detail in what the distribution additional indicator is.
4. The Printing Additional Indicator — Art. 49
Of the national newspapers, an additional indicator at a rate of 1/6 is applied to those printed in 2 provinces and of 1/3 to those printed in 3 provinces, on condition of at least 5,000 clean copies daily in each province. We covered the detail in how many copies must be printed for the printing additional indicator.
Circulation in General Assembly Membership — Law 195, Art. 5/a
In sub-paragraph (a) of the General Assembly, newspaper and magazine owners are represented according to sales bands:
| Sales band | Number of representatives |
|---|---|
| Above 100 thousand | 1 |
| 99,999–50 thousand | 1 |
| 49,999–10 thousand | 1 |
| Below 10 thousand | 1 |
Breach of the Sales Condition
Falling below the minimum actual sales leads to the suspension of the publishing right and, if not remedied, to its ending. The right is also suspended where it is established in a subscriber verification that 15% or more of the subscribers are not actually continuing (Art. 45/2). We covered the detail in which breaches lead to announcements being withheld and in when the publishing right comes to an end.
Exceptions
- Strike — Art. 34/4: where newspapers interrupt publication because of a strike, their rights continue if they are published again within 30 days of the date the strike ended, by fulfilling the other qualities and duties required apart from the actual sales condition.
- The 2023 earthquakes — Provisional Art. 7: the minimum actual sales conditions were not required until certain dates in the 10 provinces and their districts in which a state of emergency was declared.
Conclusion
Actual sales is one of the five qualities listed in Art. 34 of Law No. 195. Regulation Art. 44 sets minimum sales of between 100 and 3,000 copies by category, together with dealer sales and return rates; falling below them affects the publishing right. Art. 51 increases the quota by giving newspapers whose sales exceed certain thresholds a sales additional indicator of between 1/6 and 2 times. Commission-free invoices are not taken into account in the calculation of actual sales.