Last September, The Guardian launched a digital European edition to expand its coverage of the continent and deepen its relationship with European audiences.

A year in, the effort is paying off. One-time donations from European readers increased by 45%, and The Guardian’s overall number of recurring paid supporters increased by 8%. (While The Guardian is always free to read, an all-access digital membership is costs €12 per month or €120 annually.)

Guardian Europe’s largest audiences come from Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. The Europe edition contributes 15% of the company’s overall pageviews, said associate editor Katherine Butler.

The European edition is The Guardian’s fifth — joining the United Kingdom, U.S., Australia, and international editions — and its first new edition since 2015. European readers have been particularly interested in stories about the rise of the far right across the continent, Butler said.

“After Britain left the EU in 2020, The Guardian pledged to become even more European in its perspective, not less,” Butler told me in an email. “The edition was by no means the start of our reporting on Europe…but it now allows us to better showcase the breadth and depth of Guardian journalism for readers who would have previously been directed to the international [edition] on our website and app.”

The Guardian initially hired 10 new journalists specifically for the edition, including three homepage editors, community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam, Scandinavia Miranda Bryant, environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan, and sports correspondent Nick Ames. It’s since hired a European live blogger, Lili Bayert.

Some stories from the past year include an investigation into how polluted air, Athens’ attempt to combat extreme heat in the city, and a series on how rising property and rent prices affect European citizens. A lifestyle vertical called “Euro visions” highlights cultural developments and innovation across the continent. A piece about why young people in Lithuania are so happy pulled in nearly two million pageviews, Butler said.

The Guardian also hired four columnists from Germany, France, Italy, and Spain onto its opinions team to “to contextualize issues and debates that matter to Europeans and to offer a wider range of perspectives and ideas,” Butler said. Over the summer, Berlin-based columnist Fatma Aydemir wrote about how soccer contributes to a resurgence of nationalism in Germany, which is why she wasn’t looking forward to the 2024 Euro Cup.

The Guardian is one of many newspapers seeing success with international editions. The practice isn’t new: The New York Times launched its first international print edition in 1943 during World War II as a way to boost morale and keep spirits up among troops stationed overseas. The Times’s international edition had several name changes and iterations before the current version of the digital edition launched in 2016. The Wall Street Journal launched digital editions for readers in Asia and Europe in 2015. The Guardian launched its U.S. edition in 2011, followed by its Australia and International editions in 2013 and 2015.

“Our hope is that we continue to expand the number of people across Europe who use Guardian journalism as their primary English-language global news source,” Butler said. “We are not seeking to replace local European news outlets, but aspire to be the go-to, English-language news source for readers on the continent.”