Ad market set to pass $1 trillion as UK readies for boom
The global advertising market is expected to sail past $1 trillion (£783bn) in value this year as the British ad market supercharges growth into 2025.
“The UK advertising market will experience significant growth in 2024,” a new report from WPP-owned Groupm said, which estimated that global ad revenue will have grown 9.5 per cent throughout the year.
The British ad market is expected to reach $53.2bn (£41.7bn) by the end of the year, an increase of 8.3 per cent relative to last year.
“This solidifies the UK’s position as Europe’s largest advertising market, surpassing projected growth for the region as a whole,” the report added.
Groupm said it now expects a better recovery in 2025 than it had previously predicted, and upgraded the UK’s advertising growth from 4.4 per cent in its mid-year forecasts to seven per cent.
This is the same level of estimated growth as the US market, which is expected to reach $379bn by the end of the year, excluding the impact of political advertising.
However, the news came as fears swirl that British WPP is on the brink of losing its title as the largest ad firm in the world, as American rivals Omnicom and Interpublic consider a merger.
Globally, the market is expected to reach $1.1 trillion (£860bn) in 2025, the report said, as the largest sellers of advertising have recorded double-digit gains in the first nine months of this year.
Pure-play digital advertising is forecast to grow 12.4 per cent in 2024 and 10 per cent in 2025. It is the largest segment of advertising revenue globally, accounting for 72.9 per cent of total advertising in 2025 and 76.8 per cent in 2029.
Total print advertising revenue, which includes traditional and digital formats across newspapers and magazines, will decline 4.5 per cent in 2024 and a further three per cent in 2025, the report added.