Magazine advertising pages fell almost 26 percent in the first quarter, according to Publishers Information Bureau data released late Tuesday, signaling a difficult beginning to what is expected to be a dismal advertising year.

Only 15 magazines tracked by the bureau had more ad pages this quarter than they did in the period a year ago. Those included the National Journal, up 42.1 percent to 185 pages, and Fitness, up 28 percent to 199 pages.

In a sign of just how difficult the magazine business is at the moment, the title that posted the second-biggest gain in the report was Hallmark Magazine, up 30.5 percent, to 54 pages. It was shut down in February because of the economy.

The big publishers were hard to find among the advertising leaders. No magazines at either Hachette Filipacchi Media or Hearst Magazines posted gains. Time Inc. had only one, Sports Illustrated Kids, which rose about 30 percent to just under 29 pages. Condé Nast’s only improvement was Golf World, up 0.2 percent, to 283 pages. In addition to Fitness, Meredith added ad pages at Family Circle, up 5.4 percent to 329 pages.