Top 10 Newspapers in Pakistan: Complete List of Urdu and English Papers

The top 10 newspapers in Pakistan are Daily Jang, Dawn, Daily Express, Nawa-i-Waqt, The News International, Daily Khabrain, Daily Dunya, The Express Tribune, The Nation and Business Recorder. Jang is both the largest and the oldest.

Pakistan’s press runs on two languages. Urdu dailies carry the mass readership, English dailies carry the record of government and business, and the biggest publishing houses run one of each. This article ranks the ten leading national newspapers, gives the language, city, founding year and owning group of every one, profiles the English and Urdu papers separately, and lists the regional dailies that matter outside Karachi and Lahore.

What Are the Top 10 Newspapers in Pakistan?

The ten newspapers below are ranked on publishing history, national multi city reach, and standing as papers of record. Pakistan publishes no current public audited circulation table, so this ranking is not a circulation league table.

1. Daily Jang is the Urdu daily of the Jang Group, founded in 1939 and described as the most circulated newspaper in the country.
2. Dawn is the English daily founded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1941 and is treated as Pakistan’s newspaper of record.
3. Daily Express is the Urdu daily of the Lakson Group, launched in 1998 and printed from more cities than most rivals.
4. Nawa-i-Waqt is the Lahore Urdu daily founded in 1940, the oldest paper started inside what is now Pakistan.
5. The News International is the Jang Group’s English daily, launched in 1991 as the country’s first full colour newspaper.
6. Daily Khabrain is the Lahore Urdu daily founded in 1992 and printed from eight cities including Karachi, Peshawar and Muzaffarabad.
7. Daily Dunya is the Urdu daily of the Dunya Media Group, launched in 2012 alongside the group’s television news channel.
8. The Express Tribune is the Lakson Group’s English daily, launched in 2010 as the sister paper of Daily Express.
9. The Nation is the English daily of the Nawa-i-Waqt Group, launched from Lahore in 1986.
10. Business Recorder is the financial daily founded in 1965, the first Pakistani newspaper devoted to finance and the economy.

Which Are the Best English Newspapers in Pakistan?

Five English dailies carry national weight, and Dawn is the largest of them. All five still print and all five run daily e-paper editions.

Dawn

Dawn was founded in Delhi on 26 October 1941 by Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a weekly voice for the All India Muslim League. Dawn became a daily in October 1944 under editor Pothan Joseph, and senior staff moved the head office to Karachi in 1947. The paper is published by Pakistan Herald Publications and is the flagship of the Dawn Media Group.

The News International

The News International was launched on 11 February 1991 by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and was Pakistan’s first four colour newspaper. The News prints from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi or Islamabad, and it shares the Jang Group newsroom infrastructure with Daily Jang and Geo News.

The Express Tribune

The Express Tribune launched on 12 April 2010 from Karachi as the English sister paper of Daily Express, under the Lakson Group. Editions also print from Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar.

The Nation

The Nation was launched from Lahore in 1986 by Arif Nizami as the English title of the Nawa-i-Waqt Group. Ownership passed to the Majid Nizami Trust, which also holds Nawa-i-Waqt.

Business Recorder

Business Recorder was launched on 27 April 1965 in Karachi by M.A. Zuberi and was Pakistan’s first newspaper dedicated to finance and economics. Zuberi had been hired as an apprentice reporter at Dawn by Jinnah in 1945, which links the two oldest surviving English mastheads directly.

Which Are the Most Read Urdu Newspapers in Pakistan?

Urdu titles hold the larger share of Pakistani readership, and Daily Jang leads the Urdu market. The five below print national editions rather than single city runs.

Daily Jang

Daily Jang was founded in 1939 in Delhi by Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman and began as a weekly before becoming a daily. Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman moved publication to Karachi after independence in 1947, and Jang has been in continuous publication ever since, which makes it the oldest surviving Pakistani newspaper.

Daily Express

Daily Express was launched on 3 September 1998 by the Lakson Group and is published by Century Publications. Express prints simultaneously from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sargodha.

Nawa-i-Waqt

Nawa-i-Waqt appeared first on 23 March 1940 in Lahore as a fortnightly founded by Hameed Nizami, and it became a daily on 19 July 1944. The title means voice of the time. Since the death of Majid Nizami in 2014 the paper has been held by the Majid Nizami Trust.

Daily Khabrain

Daily Khabrain was founded on 26 September 1992 in Lahore by Zia Shahid and is published by the Khabrain Group. Khabrain prints from Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Multan, Hyderabad, Muzaffarabad and Sukkur.

Daily Dunya

Daily Dunya launched on 3 September 2012 from Lahore under Mian Amer Mahmood, who also founded Dunya News television. Editions print from Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Quetta and Sargodha.

Which Other Pakistani Newspapers Are Worth Knowing?

National coverage is only part of the picture, because several provincial dailies outsell national titles in their own region and two of the largest are published in Sindhi. Regional readership tracks the language map set out in the culture and languages of the provinces of Pakistan.

Two entries in that table are worth separating out. Daily Ausaf runs overseas editions from Frankfurt and London, which no other Pakistani group does. Daily Pakistan was started in Lahore in December 1997 by Akbar Ali Bhatti and has been edited by Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami since 1999.

How Many Newspapers Does Pakistan Have?

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics recorded 707 newspapers in Pakistan as of 2019, a figure that covers dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies and monthlies together.

Registers disagree because they count different things. The Media Ownership Monitor Pakistan reported that the Audit Bureau of Circulations recognised 847 newspapers, while the All Pakistan Newspapers Society listed 463 member publications. Media Landscapes recorded 308 daily newspapers out of 539 total titles in 2016, down from 437 dailies in 2007.

What every register shows is contraction. The number of registered dailies has fallen since the 2000s as advertising moved to television and online news, and several papers now reach more readers through e-paper editions than through print runs.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pakistani Newspapers

Which is the largest newspaper in Pakistan?

Daily Jang is the largest newspaper in Pakistan and the most circulated print title in the country. Dawn is the largest English language newspaper and is widely treated as Pakistan’s newspaper of record.

Which is the oldest newspaper in Pakistan?

Daily Jang, founded in Delhi in 1939, is the oldest Pakistani newspaper still in continuous publication. Nawa-i-Waqt, started in Lahore on 23 March 1940, is the oldest paper founded inside present day Pakistan.

Which English newspaper did Quaid-e-Azam found?

Dawn. Muhammad Ali Jinnah launched Dawn in Delhi on 26 October 1941 as a weekly mouthpiece for the All India Muslim League, and it became a daily in October 1944.

How many newspapers are published in Pakistan?

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics recorded 707 newspapers as of 2019, including dailies, weeklies and monthlies. The Audit Bureau of Circulations has recognised 847 titles, and the All Pakistan Newspapers Society listed 463 members.

Which Pakistani groups publish in both Urdu and English?

Three groups run a matched pair. Jang Group publishes Daily Jang and The News International, Lakson Group publishes Daily Express and The Express Tribune, and Nawa-i-Waqt Group publishes Nawa-i-Waqt and The Nation.

Last Thoughts on Newspapers in Pakistan

Pakistani newspapers still divide along the line drawn before independence. Jang, Nawa-i-Waqt and Dawn were all founded between 1939 and 1941 as political instruments of the Pakistan Movement, and all three outlived the movement to become commercial groups with television arms. Everything launched since, from Business Recorder in 1965 to Daily Dunya in 2012, was built on that model of one Urdu mass title and one English title of record.

That is also why the press remains the fastest way to follow national politics, from cabinet formation to the record of every prime minister Pakistan has had. Print circulation is shrinking, but the same ten mastheads now run the country’s largest news websites and e-paper editions.