How to cancel The Economist
Opens The Economist's own cancellation page. You will need to be signed in to your The Economist account.
How are you billed?
The Economist can be cancelled direct, Apple and Google Play — and the steps are completely different. Check the last charge on your statement if you are not sure.
Cancelling The Economist directly
About 12 minutes · Hard
Sign in at myaccount.economist.com
Open Subscription details
Contact customer services to cancel
Self-serve is not offered in most regions
- Notice period
- None — cancelling takes effect straight away. Cancellation is generally handled by customer services rather than self-serve.
- How you will know it worked
- Support ticket reply.
- What happens after you cancel
- Where you cancel depends entirely on who sold you the subscription, and The Economist lists four different answers: its own website, the App Store, Google Play, or a subscription agent. An agent-sold subscription has to be cancelled with the agent — The Economist cannot do it for you — and an Economist Pro team subscription goes through the Pro support team instead. Check your statement if you are not sure which one you are. Bought on economist.com, it is My Account, then Manage subscription in the My subscription section. Expect to be offered something on the way out. The Economist's own help page says it would be happy to discuss more affordable or flexible options, and points you at phone or live chat to explore them — useful if the price rather than the paper is the problem, and worth being ready for if it is not. The Economist does not publish what happens to access after a cancellation, so nothing is claimed here. Assume the current term runs out, and keep the confirmation you are given.
- How we checked
- Checked against The Economist's published instructions on 2 September 2026.Nobody has walked this flow, so treat the steps as their account of it rather than ours.
Cancelling The Economist through Apple
About 3 minutes · Easy
Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad, then tap your name
On the web, go to apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions
Tap Subscriptions
Select the subscription, then Cancel Subscription
- Notice period
- At least 1 day before your renewal date. Apple requires cancellation at least 24 hours before the renewal date.
- How you will know it worked
- Confirmation email.
- What happens after you cancel
- You keep access until the end of the period you have already paid for — Apple does not refund the unused part, and cancelling early does not end it sooner. The subscription disappears from your Apple subscriptions list on that date. Two things this does not do: it does not close your account with the service, so anything stored there stays where it is, and it does not get you a refund. Refunds for Apple-billed subscriptions are asked for at reportaproblem.apple.com, not from the merchant, who genuinely cannot issue one.
- How we checked
- Checked against The Economist's published instructions on 1 September 2026.Nobody has walked this flow, so treat the steps as their account of it rather than ours.
Cancelling The Economist through Google Play
About 3 minutes · Easy
Open the Play Store, tap your profile, then Payments & subscriptions
Tap Subscriptions and select the app
Tap Cancel subscription and confirm
- Notice period
- None — cancelling takes effect straight away.
- How you will know it worked
- Confirmation email.
- What happens after you cancel
- You keep access until the end of the period you have already paid for. Google Play does not refund the remainder, and the subscription shows as cancelled with its end date until then. Cancelling here stops Google charging you; it does not close your account with the service or delete anything in it. A refund, if you want one, is requested through Google Play — and only within a short window, after which Google sends you to the developer.
- How we checked
- Checked against The Economist's published instructions on 1 September 2026.Nobody has walked this flow, so treat the steps as their account of it rather than ours.
What else are you paying for?
Find possible recurring subscriptions in your bank statement. Cancel OS reads a statement export you give it and flags the charges that look recurring, for you to confirm.