Ouest-France, the best-selling daily newspaper in France, is in crisis with a deficit of 8.9 million euros. The newspaper announces the elimination of 156 positions at the pace of retirements.
There is a difference between print run and readership, printed and sold, paper and digital.
According to Libération, Ouest-France is planning to cut 156 jobs. This daily newspaper is losing money "despite selling 600,000 copies every day." The figure is of a reasonable magnitude, but the word "sold" is misleading. According to ACPM, which certifies press figures, Ouest-France had an average of 581,505 paid copies distributed per issue in 2025, and about 596,000 in total distribution, including unpaid copies. Therefore, this is neither a print run nor a number of readers: it is a certified distribution. AFP also specifies "digital sales included," which the headline and the lead omit.
This distribution includes paper and digital subscriptions, delivery, bundled sales, and single-copy sales. A digital subscription counts as soon as it is paid for, even if it is rarely used: some subscribers only open the newspaper occasionally, depending on a post on social media. To know how many people actually read it, one must look at the audience, also published by ACPM: 2.38 million readers for Ouest-France, across all platforms, and of course this figure decreases every year. The newspaper aims for financial balance by 2028 after a net loss of 8.9 million euros in 2025, its fifth consecutive year of deficit.
Without public aid, the deficit would be double
The Ministry of Culture publishes an annual table of supported press titles. The one for 2024, online since August 6, 2025 , indicates that the Sipa Ouest-France group received 12.88 million euros for 57 titles, placing it third among supported press groups, behind Les Échos-Le Parisien (17.98 M€) and Le Monde (17.26 M€). The title Ouest-France alone received 6.43 million euros, making it the sixth most supported title in the country.
For 2023, the same ministry estimated the aid to the group at 14.6 million euros, of which 6.9 million was for the title Ouest-France ( see our 2024 article These two amounts are not strictly comparable: 2023 included an exceptional paper aid of 30 million euros for the entire press and a broader scope (75 titles versus 57). The tables for 2025 have not yet been published. The aid for 2024 for Ouest-France exceeds the net loss of 8.9 million euros recorded by the newspaper in 2025.
Sources: AFP/Libération (September 23, 2026); ACPM; Senate, opinion no. 149 on the PLF 2025; summary of amendment no. 698 to article 49 of the PLF 2026 (National Assembly). Ministry website
