The total number of digital orders 96,855 orders as of the end of last month.

The Ekspress Meedia group says a digital order is defined as one whose value is greater than one euro in the space of one calendar month, which is billed separately from any other order, and can which can similarly be terminated separately, at any time.

Ekspress Grupp Board Chair Mari-Liis Rüütsalu said that the number of digital orders has continued to grow rapidly, in line with expectations, and forms an increasingly important part of the group's revenue base. 

Rüütsalu said: "Over the past year, we have gained nearly 34,000 readers with digital subscriptions in the Baltic countries, or 24 percent more than at the end of June last year."

 "We achieved the fastest growth in Latvia (65 percent) and Lithuania (48 percent), where, like Estonia, having digital subscriptions is becoming an increasingly accepted norm in society."

The digital subscriptions cover Delfi's news portal, EPL, investigative weekly Eesti Ekspress, agricultural weekly Maaleht, and several other titles under the Delfi Meedi brand.

Digital orders for the entire Baltic region for AS Ekspress Grupp rose by 24 percent on year, to 175,379 orders as of the end of June.

Õhuleht, an evening paper published by Õhtulehe Kirjatus, is also available online. Ekspress Grupp owns a 50 percent stake in Õhtulehe Kirjatus, which saw its digital orders rise by 10 percent on year to June, reaching 24,477 orders.

Orders in Latvia rose by 65 percent, in Lithuania, b 48 percent (to over 21,000 and nearly 26,000 respectively).

AS Ekspress Grupp also operates an electronic ticket sales platform and ticket sales points and an outdoor advertising screens service in Estonia and Latvia.

Founded in 1989, Ekspress Grupp employs nearly 1,600 staff, while its majority shareholder is Hans H. Luik.

The growth comes at a time when paper subscriptions have been plummeting for all publishing houses, causing a reduction in the frequency of printing and, in the case of business daily Äripäev (owned by the Bonnier Group), a complete discontinuation of the print newspaper.

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