• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 16, 2015

The number of new magazine launches decreased 41% from 190 in 2014 to 113 in 2015, according to the latest figures from MediaFinder, which maintains a database of U.S. and Canadian publications.

On the positive side, the number of magazines which closed also fell from 99 in 2014 to 35 in 2015, for a 65% drop over the same period.

The most popular categories for new magazine launches included food, with 10 new titles; lifestyle, also with 10 new titles; automotive, with eight and children, home, and travel, with five new titles in each category.

The year’s most prominent launches included Meredith Corp.’s Beekman 1802 Almanac and Parents Latina; Nickelodeon, reviving a kid’s title which closed back in 2009; Bauer’s Simple Grace, targeting Christian readers; TEN’s new Roadkill magazine, based on the popular Web series of the same name; The Escapist, a travel and business title from the publisher of Monocle; and Lonely Planet, a new quarterly from the travel publisher.

The year’s noteworthy closures included All You, Details, Fitness, National Journal, Lucky, M, Twist, Nylon for Guys, and Running Times.

In the business-to-business category, 13 new titles launched in 2015, down from 47 new titles in 2014. Seven B2B titles ceased publication in 2015, down from 27 in 2014.

The 2014 figure for new titles was up slightly from 183 in 2013, but down sharply from 227 new magazines launched in 2012 and 239 new magazines launched in 2011.

The number of magazine closures has varied over the years, with 152 magazines shuttered in 2011, 82 closed in 2012, and 46 closed in 2013.