In the face if a weak economy and declining readership in the print space, the US newspaper industry generated an estimated $27.6 billion in total ad revenue in 2009, down 27.2% from the $37.8 billion recorded a year earlier, according to data issued by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).

Below, additional NAA data.

Print revenues in 2009, which accounted for 90.0% of total advertising, reached $24.8 billion, down 28.6% from $34.7 billion in 2008. Online advertising, which accounted for the remaining 10.0% of revenues, generated $2.7 billion for the year, down 11.8%.

In just four years (2005-2009), total newspaper ad revenues fell 44.3%, nearly one-half of the industry's total revenue.

Across print ad categories, classified advertising recorded the biggest drop in 2009, down 38.1% to an estimated $6.2 billion, from the $9.8 billion recorded in 2008.

Retail ads also dropped sharply, down 24.2% to an estimated $14.2 billion in 2009, from $18.8 billion a year earlier. National ads fell 26.2%, to $4.4 billion, from $5.6 billion in 2008.