UK ad spend expected to top £29bn in 2021 recovery

UK ad spend is forecast to grow by 24.8% in 2021 to reach a total of £29.3bn, according to the Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report.

A forecast published in October details an even more positive outlook for UK advertising than the one the AA/WARC report offered in July, with investment in advertising in the fourth quarter of 2021 expected to be a record £7.9bn.

The latest dataset also includes revised projections for UK ad spend in2022 showing a 7.7% increase year-on-year to more than £31.5bn. Media channels set for a significant recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic include cinema (+123.2%) and out-of-home (+27.7%), while the growth in search, which includes e-commerce spend, is expected to continue its rise (+11.4%).

These figures, along with other forecasts from WARC, suggest the UK is on course to achieve the fastest ad trade recovery of any major European market this year, bouncing back from UK advertising’s £1.8bn decline in 2020.

More details on the forecast are available here.

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