The Sun had the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the United Kingdom, but in late 2013 slipped to second largest Saturday newspaper behind the Daily Mail. It had an average daily circulation of 2.2 million copies in March 2014. Between July and December 2013 the paper had an average daily readership of approximately 5.5 million, with approximately 31% of those falling into the ABC1 demographic and 68% in the C2DE demographic. Approximately 41% of readers are women. The Sun has been involved in many controversies in its history, including its coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster. Regional editions of the newspaper for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are published in Glasgow (The Scottish Sun), Belfast (The Sun) and Dublin (The Irish Sun) respectively. 

On 26 February 2012, The Sun on Sunday was launched to replace the closed News of the World, employing some of its former journalists. In late 2013, it was given a new look, with a new typeface. The average circulation for The Sun on Sunday in March 2014 was 1,686,840; but in May 2015 The Mail on Sunday sold more copies for the first time, an average of 28,650 over those of its rival: 1,497,855 to 1,469,195. Roy Greenslade issued some caveats over the May 2015 figures, but believes the weekday Daily Mail will overtake The Sun in circulation during 2016.
Why was it launched?
 replace the closed News of the World,