Despite the name, the paper is mainly distributed in east Saxony.

The paper's circulation is around ten times that of its main competitor, the Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, which is part-owned by one of the owners of the Sächsische Zeitung itself.

The remaining 40% is owned by Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, which is wholly owned by the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

[4] The paper carried the subtitle Organ der Bezirksleitung Dresden der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands ("organ of the Dresden Regional Administration of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany") from 1946 to 1990.

The circulation of Sächsische Zeitung has been falling steadily.