Help

How to...

  • Subscribe to The Economist newspaper or The Economist online
    • Subscribe to The Economist

      To subscribe to The Economist newspaper, please visit our subscription centre. Your new subscription will begin up to three weeks after your order is received.

      All Economist subscriptions include complimentary access to premium online content such as:

      • The Economist online archive, which includes more than 55,000 articles dating back to 1997
      • The Economist audio edition, a weekly downloadable broadcast of every article that's published in The Economist newspaper

      Automatic renewal service

      For your convenience, we offer an automatic renewal service that allows you to receive uninterrupted access to your Economist newspaper subscription, and to the premium online content at The Economist online.

      To take advantage of this service, simply select the option "with auto renewal" when you purchase your subscription. Please note that automatic renewal is not available for gift or academic subscriptions.

      You may cancel your automatic renewal at any time by contacting your local print subscription service centre.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Subscribe to The Economist online

      To subscribe to The Economist online, please visit our subscription centre.

      All subscriptions to The Economist online include complimentary access to our online archive, which includes more than 55,000 articles dating back to 1997, as well as The Economist audio edition, a weekly downloadable broadcast of every article that's published in The Economist newspaper.

      Automatic renewal service

      For your convenience, we offer an automatic renewal service that allows you to receive uninterrupted access to your subscription to The Economist online.

      To take advantage of this service, simply select the option "with auto renewal" when you purchase your subscription. Please note that auto renewal is not available for gift or academic subscriptions.

      You may cancel your automatic renewal at any time by logging in to your WorldPay account and following the instructions to cancel your agreement.

      Pay-per-view article credits

      Articles at The Economist online can no longer be purchased on an individual basis.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Purchase a gift subscription

      To purchase a gift subscription to The Economist newspaper, please visit our subscription centre and select the appropriate option.

      To purchase a gift subscription to The Economist online, please visit our digital gift subscription centre.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Purchase an academic or student subscription

      If you are a student or faculty member at an accredited university, you may purchase a discounted academic subscription to The Economist newspaper or The Economist online.

      Purchase an academic subscription to The Economist newspaper.

      Purchase an academic subscription to The Economist online.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Purchase a corporate subscription

      To purchase a corporate or bulk subscription to The Economist newspaper, please contact your local print subscription service centre.

      To purchase a corporate subscription to The Economist online, please email customerservices@economist.com or visit our bulk subscriptions information centre for more information.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • Manage my subscription to The Economist newspaper
  • Manage my subscription to The Economist online
  • Manage my account at The Economist online
    • Register with The Economist online

      To register with The Economist online and create your free account, please complete our online form.

      Why register

      When you register with The Economist online, you'll enjoy a number of valuable benefits:

      • Free e-mail alerts and newsletters about business and politics
      • Updates about new articles
      • Exclusive special offers

      You'll also be able to vote and comment on our articles and blogs.

      Additional subscriber benefits

      Subscribers to The Economist newspaper and The Economist online can register with the site to access a wide variety of premium online content, including a searchable archive of more than 55,000 articles dating back to 1997 and The Economist audio edition, a weekly downloadable broadcast that features audio recordings of every article that's published in The Economist newspaper.

      Learn more about accessing our premium online content.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Update my account information

      To update your account information, please log in to your account at www.economist.com and select My account to view your Member homepage. From here, you can manage your personal information, change your password, and sign up for newsletters and e-mail alerts.

      Please note that you cannot change the delivery address for your Economist newspaper subscription by editing your personal information at The Economist online.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Change my e-mail address

      To change the e-mail address you use to sign in to The Economist online, please log in to your account at www.economist.com and select My account to view your Member homepage. From here, click My personal information on the left side of the page and select Change my e-mail address for login and newsletters.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Change my password

      To select a new password, please log in to your account at www.economist.com and select My account to view your Member homepage. From here, click My personal information on the left side of the page and select Change my Economist online password.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Sign up for newsletters and special alerts

      The Economist online offers a variety of free e-mail newsletters and alerts about business, politics and current events.

      To sign up, please complete our online form and create your free account. During the registration process, you may select which newsletters you'd like to receive by checking the box next to each item.

      Once you've registered with The Economist online, you'll be able to sign up for more great newsletters and bulletins

      To manage your newsletters:

      1. Log in to your account at www.economist.com.
      2. Select My account to view your Member homepage. From here, you can follow the Newsletters link on the left side of the page to update your preferences.

      If you're having trouble with the delivery of any newsletters, please check your spam filter or contact our technical support team. Please note that we automatically suspend delivery of your newsletters if you do not open any of them for three months. To reactivate delivery, please follow the instructions above to log in to your account and update your preferences.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • Search The Economist online
    • Basic searches

      You can conduct basic searches at The Economist online with the search box at the top of each page.

      What can I search for?

      You can search for articles and content in four separate archives using the drop-down menu in the search box:

      • Economist.com, which contains all articles from The Economist newspaper since June 1997, as well as all web-only content. (This is the default search option.)
      • Print edition only, which contains all articles from The Economist newspaper since June 1997 and excludes all web-only content.
      • Economics A-Z, which enables you to search an electronic version of Matthew Bishop's Essential Economics.
      • The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) archive, which contains all publications from the EIU since January 1996.

      How does searching work?

      Searching for words and phrases

      Multiple search terms are automatically combined with the Boolean "AND" operator—i.e., all terms that you search for will appear in each of the results. You may also refine your searches with other Boolean operators.

      To search for a specific phrase, simply enclose it in quotation marks (e.g., "monetary union").

      To search for multiple variations of the same word, place an asterisk at the end of its stem. (A search for Europe*, for example, will return all results that contain the words "Europe", "European", "European Union" and so on.)

      Applying search fields and filters

      Our advanced search page enables you to conduct more refined searches by specifying search fields like date, headlines and index terms.

      Learn more about advanced searches.

      Modifying search display options

      View your search results in reverse chronological order by selecting Sort by date at the top of the results page.

      View them according to how frequently your search terms appear by selecting Sort by relevance.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Advanced searches

      Our advanced search page enables you to conduct more refined searches by applying certain filters: date, headlines and index terms. These filters vary slightly for each of the four search archives because of their different structures.

      Specifying dates

      To search for articles that were published within a certain time period, simply select the range of dates that you are looking for.

      Searching index terms (Economist print searches only)

      Index terms are descriptive keywords or phrases that are assigned to each article in The Economist by professional researchers, according to its main themes and subject.

      To search for Economist articles that are associated with a particular index term, enter your search term(s), select Print edition only, and then select Index terms from the drop-down menu labelled "within".

      Searching headline terms (Economist print searches only)

      To search for Economist articles whose titles contain specific words or phrases, simply enter your search term(s), select Print edition only and then select Headlines from the drop-down menu labelled "within".

      You can also search our site with the Google custom search box that's available on our advanced search page.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Indices and catalogues

      To find an article that appeared in a recent edition of The Economist newspaper, try browsing our print edition contents page, which lists and links to all articles in the current print edition.

      To view the contents of earlier print editions, try browsing our cover index.

      You can also browse Economist articles by subject or view our online collection of special reports.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Finding an article that's not archived on the website

      To locate an Economist article that was published before 1997, please contact your local print subscription department.

      You may also search for it online at Cengage Learning, which offers a complete facsimile archive of The Economist that dates back to 1843.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • Access premium online content

    Subscribers to The Economist newspaper and The Economist online enjoy free access to a wide variety of premium online content, including a searchable archive of more than 55,000 articles dating back to 1997 and The Economist audio edition, a weekly downloadable broadcast that features audio recordings of every article that's published in The Economist newspaper.

    If you are an Economist online subscriber, please log in to your account at www.economist.com to access this premium content.

    If you are an Economist newspaper subscriber, please:

    1. Complete our online form to register with The Economist online and create your free account.
    2. Visit our user services centre and enter your print customer reference number (CRN). Your CRN can be found on the address label of your Economist newspaper. customer reference number example
    3. If you are unable to locate it, please contact your local print subscription service centre.

    For more information about our print and web subscription packages, please visit our subscription centre.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • Listen to and view special audio and video content
    • Listen to the contents of The Economist newspaper

      The Economist audio edition is a weekly downloadable broadcast that features audio recordings of every article that's published in The Economist newspaper. It is available free of charge to all Economist online and Economist newspaper subscribers, and for $8 per edition to everyone else.

      Each week, excerpts from the audio edition are also made available free of charge at our audio/video library.

      Economist online and Economist newspaper subscribers

      To access your free audio edition:

      1. Complete our online form to register with The Economist online and create your free account.
      2. Visit our user services centre and enter your print customer reference number (CRN). Your CRN can be found on the address label of your Economist newspaper. customer reference number example If you are unable to locate it, please contact your local print subscription service centre.
      3. Visit our audio centre to download the audio edition.

      Economist online and Economist newspaper subscribers may also sign up to receive a free weekly e-mail alert when each new audio edition is published. To sign up, simply log in to your account at www.economist.com and click My account to view your Member homepage. Then follow the Newsletters link on the left side of the page and select Manage my newsletters to sign up for the e-mail alert.

      Not a subscriber?

      If you are not an Economist online or Economist subscriber, please visit our audio centre and select Buy audio edition to purchase The Economist audio edition.

      For more information about our print and web subscription packages, please visit our subscription centre.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Listen to and view original audio and video programming

      The Economist online audio/video library features original broadcasts and programming about news, business and politics.

      To listen to and view these programmes on your computer, please visit our audio/video library and select the programme you wish to play.

      You may also download individual programmes to your desktop, or subscribe to our podcast channels to listen to and view new programmes from your favourite RSS reader.

      To download an individual programme to your desktop:

      1. Visit our audio/video library and click on the programme you wish to download.
      2. Select the download icon icon to the right of the graphical box to download audio programmes, and the podcast icon to download video programmes.

      To subscribe to our podcast channels:

      1. Visit our audio/video RSS centre and select the feed format you wish to use at the box on the upper left corner. (You'll find more information about RSS feeds and formats on the right side of the page.)
      2. Then select the broadcast channel whose programmes you wish to receive from the list at the left of the page.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • Read the contents of The Economist on my cell phone or mobile device

    The Economist mobile edition enables you to read daily analysis of breaking news and events on your mobile phone or PDA. Access is free, and requires no registration.

    To get the mobile edition, please visit our mobile centre and follow the instructions.

    Special instructions for Blackberry users

    Blackberry users may need to adjust their device settings to display certain colors and fonts in the mobile edition.

    To get the most of your Blackberry and The Economist mobile edition:

    1. Open your internet browser and bring up the browser menu
    2. Select Options, then Browser configuration
    3. Set the Content Mode field to 'WML & HTML'
    4. Set the Show Images field to 'On WML & HTML pages'
    5. Make sure that the following boxes are checked:
      • Support HTML tables
      • Use foreground and background colors
      • Support background images
      • Support style sheets
    6. Save your changes
    7. Visit mobile.economist.com to access the mobile edition

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • Subscribe to RSS feeds

    The Economist online offers a wide range of RSS feeds that cover politics, economics, business, science and technology.

    To subscribe to RSS feeds:

    1. Visit our RSS feeds directory and locate the feeds you wish to receive.
    2. Then select the appropriate my yahoo or RSS Feed icon to add those feeds to your RSS reader. (You'll find more information about RSS feeds and formats on the right side of the page.)

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • Post comments to The Economist online

    The Economist welcomes your thoughts, comments and arguments.

    To post comments to our blogs and articles or participate in our online debates, you must first create a pen name. Your pen name will appear alongside anything you post to The Economist online and will be linked to your public profile.

    If you do not have an account at The Economist online, please complete our online form to register and create your free account.

    If you already have an account at The Economist online:

    1. Log in to your account at www.economist.com and click My account to view your Member homepage.
    2. From there, follow the link to View my comments at the bottom of the page to select a pen name and create your public profile.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

Where is...

  • An article from The Economist print edition

    All articles that are published in The Economist newspaper are available at The Economist online.

    To search for a particular article, use the search box at the top of each page of the site or visit our advanced search page.

    Alternatively, you can browse our print edition contents page, which lists and links to all articles in the current print edition.

    To view the contents of earlier print editions, try browsing our cover index.

    You can also browse Economist articles by subject or view our online collection of special reports.

    To find an article that's not archived on our website, please visit Cengage Learning, which offers a complete facsimile archive of The Economist that dates back to 1843 and can be searched online.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • A past issue of The Economist

    The contents of past issues of The Economist newspaper (dating back to January 2000) can be browsed on our past issues and contents page.

    You can also search The Economist online for any articles that appeared in The Economist since 1997. To search for a particular article, use the search box at the top of each page of the site or visit our advanced search page.

    To locate an Economist article that was published before 1997 or purchase a past issue of The Economist, please contact your local print subscription department.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • An Economist special report

    Special reports are available online as downloadable PDF files, which include all articles and graphics. The cost of each report is $4.95; purchasers may download and print one copy for their own personal, non-commercial use only.

    To purchase a special report, please browse through our online collection and select which report(s) you would like.

    To view and print PDF files, you'll need to install Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge at the Adobe website.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • The Economist audio edition

    The Economist audio edition is a weekly downloadable broadcast that features audio recordings of every article that's published in The Economist newspaper. It is available free of charge to all Economist online and Economist newspaper subscribers, and for $8 per edition to everyone else.

    Each week, excerpts from the audio edition are also made available free of charge at our audio/video centre.

    Economist online and Economist newspaper subscribers

    To access your free audio edition:

    1. Complete our online form to register with The Economist online and create your free account.
    2. Visit our user services centre and enter your print customer reference number (CRN). Your CRN can be found on the address label of your Economist newspaper. customer reference number example If you are unable to locate it, please contact your local print subscription service centre.
    3. Visit our audio centre to download the audio edition.

    Economist online and Economist newspaper subscribers may also sign up to receive a free weekly e-mail alert when each new audio edition is published. To sign up, simply log in to your account at www.economist.com and click My account to view your Member homepage. Then follow the Newsletters link on the left side of the page and select Manage my newsletters to sign up for the e-mail alert.

    Not a subscriber?

    If you are not an Economist online or Economist subscriber, please visit our audio centre and select Buy audio edition to purchase The Economist audio edition.

    For more information about our print and web subscription packages, please visit our subscription centre.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • The Economist mobile edition

    The Economist mobile edition enables you to read daily analysis of breaking news and events on your mobile phone or PDA. Access is free, and requires no registration.

    To get the mobile edition, please visit our mobile centre and follow the instructions.

    Special instructions for Blackberry users

    Blackberry users may need to adjust their device settings to display certain colors and fonts in the mobile edition.

    To get the most of your Blackberry and The Economist mobile edition:

    1. Open your internet browser and bring up the browser menu
    2. Select Options, then Browser configuration
    3. Set the Content Mode field to ' WML & HTML'
    4. Set the Show Images field to 'On WML & HTML pages'
    5. Make sure that the following boxes are checked:
      • Support HTML tables
      • Use foreground and background colors
      • Support background images
      • Support style sheets
    6. Save your changes
    7. Visit mobile.economist.com to access the mobile edition

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • The Economist shop

    The Economist shop in Regent Street has closed.

    To purchase books, business accessories and other items, please visit our online shop.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • A different section or feature of The Economist online
    • Blogs

      Our blogs are lightly moderated debates in which journalists from The Economist newspaper, The Economist online and the Economist Intelligence Unit post their thoughts and observations, and which are open to comment and argument from anybody who cares to intervene.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Debates

      Economist debates are interactive forums where a variety of topical issues are debated in the Oxford style. Debates are hosted by a moderator and advanced by two expert speakers, who are chosen by The Economist's staff to represent the "proposition" and the "opposition" of a given resolution. The public are also invited to participate by voting on resolutions, sharing their views and opinions, and challenging the speakers.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Economist Intelligence Unit

      The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) offers analysis and forecasts on more than 200 countries and eight key industries. The group helps executives make informed business decisions through dependable intelligence that is delivered online, in print, in customised research, and through conferences and peer interchange.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • The World in 2010

      The World in 2010 forecasts the political, economic, financial and scientific developments that will shape the globe over the coming year. The Economist's writers are joined by senior editors from the Economist Intelligence Unit and other prestigious global publications, as well as by leading thinkers from top think-tanks and universities.

      The online version of The World in 2010 contains all the content of the print edition, including EIU country and industry data.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Intelligent Life

      Intelligent Life is a quarterly publication that shows how new trends will impact each of us personally—at home, at play, in health or on the road.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Global Executive

      Global Executive is an online publication that covers the latest developments in business education and management theory as well as larger trends that matter to global companies and their leaders.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Country Briefings

      Country Briefings are free online reports that bring together a range of intelligence, analysis and news on more than 60 countries. Each briefing features a detailed background profile from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a political and economic forecast from the EIU, recent articles from The Economist, a currency converter, stock-market information (only for selected countries), and newswires. Each Country Briefing also includes links to related websites for more information.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Diversions

      Diversions, the lighter side of The Economist online, is home to our Infrequently Asked Questions. These multiple-choice teasers test your knowledge of business and world affairs, finance, science and technology. Questions are drawn from past articles in The Economist and are updated daily. Also featured are articles on sports and games, and highlights from our special double issues.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Cities Guide

      The Economist online Cities Guide is no longer available.

      For the latest news and information about worldwide business travel, check out our business-travel blog, Gulliver.

      Registered members may also sign up to receive Gulliver's best, a free weekly newsletter that contains highlights of the past week's postings. To sign up, simply log in to your account at www.economist.com and click My account to view your Member homepage. Then follow the Newsletters link on the left side of the page and select Manage my newsletters to sign up for Gulliver's best.

      To register with The Economist online and create your free account, please complete our online form.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • Economics A-Z

      Economics A-Z is a clear, concise and lively guide to economic theory and how it works in practice. Adapted from Essential Economics, by Matthew Bishop, it contains entries on economic terms and jargon as well as famous economists and economic theories.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • The Economist Style Guide

      The Economist Style Guide is an authoritative guide to English language grammar, rules and punctuation. An expanded hardback version, featuring a special section on American and British English, a 64-page fact checker and glossary, and more is available from our online shop.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • The Economist screensaver

      The Economist screensaver draws from the 2007 edition of the bestselling Pocket World in Figures to present fascinating facts and figures on 66 of the world's major economies.

      Download The Economist screensaver.

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

    • RSS feeds

      The Economist online offers a wide range of RSS feeds that cover politics, economics, business, science and technology.

      To subscribe to RSS feeds:

      1. Visit our RSS feeds directory and locate the feeds you wish to receive
      2. Then select the appropriate my yahoo or RSS Feed icon to add those feeds to your RSS reader. (You'll find more information about RSS feeds and formats on the right side of the page.)

      Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

What is...

  • Premium online content

    Subscribers to The Economist newspaper and The Economist online can register with the site to access a wide variety of premium online content, including:

    • A searchable archive of more than 55,000 articles dating back to 1997
    • Free access to The Economist audio edition, a weekly downloadable broadcast that features audio recordings of every article that's published in The Economist newspaper (a value of $8 each week)

    If you are an Economist online subscriber, please log in to your account at www.economist.com to access premium content.

    If you are an Economist newspaper subscriber, please:

    1. Complete our online form to register with The Economist online and create your free account.
    2. Visit our user services centre and enter your print customer reference number (CRN). Your CRN can be found on the address label of your Economist newspaper. customer reference number example If you are unable to locate it, please contact your local print subscription service centre.

    For more information about our print and web subscription packages, please visit our subscription centre.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • The red E+ symbol

    Articles marked with a red E+ symbol are part of a collection of premium online content that's available only to Economist newspaper and Economist online subscribers.

    If you are an Economist online subscriber, please log in to your account at www.economist.com to access this premium content.

    If you are an Economist newspaper subscriber, please:

    1. Complete our online form to register with The Economist online and create your free account.
    2. Visit our user services centre and enter your print customer reference number (CRN). Your CRN can be found on the address label of your Economist newspaper. customer reference number example If you are unable to locate it, please contact your local print subscription service centre.

    For more information about our print and web subscription packages, please visit our subscription centre.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.

  • The Economist online accessibility policy

    The Economist online is committed to making our website accessible to all users. Our current accessibility features include:

    • Descriptive hyperlink text
    • Navigational shortcuts for users of text-only browsers and page readers
    • An easy-to-see web colour scheme
    • An easy-to-read font type, size and colour
    • Fully scalable fonts that allow customisation by users

    Visitors can use the following keystrokes to navigate The Economist online:

    • Search: ALT 4 + [search query] + Enter
    • Help: ALT 6 + Enter
    • Terms and Conditions: ALT 8 + Enter

    If you have any questions or comments about the accessibility of our website, please contact our Customer service centre.

    Was this helpful? Please leave your feedback.