TOKYO — The Nikkei has become the first online Japanese news site to go over the 500,000 paid subscribers mark.

Since launching in March 2010, the Nikkei Online Edition has grown into a leading internet news provider — recently with the help of subscribers in their 20s.

Nikkei Online also closely follows the top three global news sites in terms of the number of subscribers. As of September 2015, The New York Times was No. 1, at 1.55 million paid members, followed by 960,000 for The Wall Street Journal. The Financial Times, now a member of the Nikkei group, was No. 3 at 640,000 subscribers.

Of those who paid to subscribe to Nikkei Online in 2016, more than 40,000, or 34%, were in their 20s. The proportion of subscribers in this age group has doubled over the nearly seven years since the edition made its debut.

College graduates often begin subscribing Nikkei Online as they start working. A growing number of job-seeking students also pay for the online edition, using it to collect information about prospective employers.

Nikkei Online has been enhancing its accessibility. It offers smartphone apps and periodically issues a digital booklet that provides information on nearly 4,000 Japanese listed companies. It also uses social media to reach more readers with timely articles on hot topics not only in Japan but around the world.

Easy-to-follow visual data also helps attract busy young readers.

Including free membership with limited access to content, more than 3.3 million readers find their way to Nikkei Online.