A total of 741,675 fans have watched games so far this season, 5.1 per cent up on 2004, with an average gate of 10,301.
London Irish v Wasps on New Year's Eve drew 18,122 fans to the Madejski Stadium - home of Championship football club Reading - the biggest attendance for a Premiership game at a club ground for two years.
"The rise in attendances bucks the trend seen in some major sports and has been achieved against the backdrop of some fairly testing economic conditions", said Premier Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty.
