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Global advertising will grow 7.8% and reach $989.8 billion by the end of this year, according to WPP media investment firm GroupM’s This Year Next Year 2024 Global Midyear Forecast.
In 2025, the group expects growth to slow down to a 6.8% rate, but reach a new milestone when spending hits $1.1 trillion.
A more global economy is spurring the ad industry to grow faster than GroupM’s analysts previously thought it would. In an earlier forecast, they predicted ad spend would not pass the $1 trillion threshold until 2026. As channels like retail media expand rapidly, China-based companies like Temu and TikTok increased the market’s already significant influence on the industry.
Now, 22 of the top 25 advertising sellers are based in the U.S. or in China. And given the outsized importance of digital investment, which makes up the majority of advertising, media buyers are broadening their global reach by investing in online behemoths that can attract ad revenue from anywhere in the world.
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The global advertising ecosystem is more connected than ever before, the report suggests. As a result, election outcomes and regulatory changes could change forecasted outcomes, the analysts underscored.
“Really, the story of globalization is key here,” said Kate Scott-Dawkins, global president of Business Intelligence at GroupM. “Open financial markets, global supply chains [have] allowed Chinese companies to really expand globally, around the world. That’s happened, obviously, with things like TikTok and Temu, but also within U.S.-owned or other owned platforms.”
Globalization takes hold
As usual, U.S. marketers are spending more on advertising than those in any other market. U.S. ad spend is growing at a 5.8% rate, excluding political advertising. It should reach $365.9 billion this year, up from last year’s $345.9 billion, GroupM analysts predict.
China’s advertising market is growing much faster though. It is expected to grow at a rate of 14% this year, as ad spend in its market reaches $199.4 billion. Together, the U.S. and China markets represent 57.1% of global ad revenue.
Other emerging markets, like Brazil and India, are bumping global ad spend up, too. They are growing at 11.3% and 9.5% rates, respectively.