FT named Europe's top business title

The Financial Times, which now reaches 812,000 leading executives every day, beat off rivals like The Wall Street Journal to win the number one spot in the Europe 2002 Survey, which is used by pan-European media planners and buyers in print and online.

The survey covers 10.6m executives across 16 European countries, representing the top 4% of the adult working population, and is the largest of its kind in Europe.

The FT won with an 8% increase in readership, which the paper said shows that an extra 62,000 people have, on average, read an issue of the FT this year.

The FT now has 538 more readers than the next most-read business title in the survey. FT.com, the FT's website, has also surpassed expectations with a monthly increase of 12%, which means an extra 62,000 users are regularly visiting the site.

According to Ben Hughes, FT's director for continental Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific: "I am extremely pleased that the Financial Times is yet again at the top of its league as the number one news and business title in Europe. The Europe 2002 Survey confirms the FT's position as Europe's leading business newspaper and FT.com as a leading website.

"The survey reveals that the FT has gained even more readership within a high-calibre, pan-European audience, demonstrating our unparalleled reach among key decision makers," he said.

Europe 2002, now in its third year, measures media consumption of the leading international print titles, TV stations and websites, as well as the national equivalents in individual countries. It is the only survey of its kind to feature media consumption of websites.

Europe 2002 is sponsored by 10 media owners and 12 international agency networks and is widely used and respected by the international media-planning and buying community. The survey is conducted by Ipsos-RSL and will be launched in London today, July 4.

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