Unveiling the Explosive Growth of Global Advertising: $1 Trillion Milestone Expected by 2024!
Global advertising spend set to exceed $1trn in 2024, with a projected 44% growth worldwide However, the UK market is anticipated to decline by 1% in terms of US dollars this year
According to Warc, global advertising spend is predicted to exceed $1trn (£788bn) next year, as the global economy recovers from inflation. In 2022, it is expected that global ad spend will reach $963.5bn (£739.5bn), demonstrating a 4.4% growth in the global market. However, the UK market specifically is projected to experience a decline of 1% in 2023 when measured in US dollars.
Europe as a whole is expected to experience sluggish growth in 2023, with ad spend increasing by a mere 0.6%. Although the UK is the largest individual advertising market in Europe, accounting for 4.6% of it, it is projected to decline this year, which is unusual compared to other major markets in the region. Spain is expected to grow by 5.6%, Italy by 3.2%, and Germany by 2.7%.
In 2024, global ad spend is predicted to rise by 8.2% and reach a significant milestone of $1 trillion. The growth rate for Europe is also expected to be stronger compared to this year, with a growth rate of 3.6%, driven by improving economic conditions. According to a July forecast by AA/Warc, UK ad spend will only increase by 1.1% in real terms next year.
The growing global ad spend is mainly dominated by five companies. These companies are Alibaba, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Amazon, Bytedance (the owner of TikTok), and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram). It is predicted that these companies will attract more than half of the global ad spend this year. This dominance is expected to continue, as these companies are forecasted to grow their share to 51.9% next year.
According to Warc's projections, social media is projected to be the fastest growing channel for ad spend in the coming years. In the next year, social media is expected to account for more than a fifth of the total ad spend, which will be worth $227.2 billion (£179.7 billion). Amongst these companies, Meta alone controls almost two-thirds (64.6%) of the social media ad market.
The parent company of TikTok, Bytedance, is expected to become a major player in the social media industry, with projected ad revenue of $39.6bn (£31.3bn) by 2024. However, it is still significantly smaller than Meta.
On another note, the retail media sector is anticipated to experience significant growth, projected to increase by 10.2% this year and 10.5% in the next year, reaching a total of $141.7bn (£112.1bn). This would account for 13.6% of all ad spend. Notably, Amazon dominates the retail media advertising landscape, attracting nearly 37.5% of all ad spend. Nevertheless, local players like Tesco and Asda in the UK are also investing in their retail media offerings to tap into this expanding market, alongside global giants Alibaba and Amazon.
In 2024, financial services are expected to experience the highest growth in ad spend, projected at 11.5%. Following closely behind are the technology and electronics (11.3%) and pharma and health (11.0%) sectors. Additionally, with the upcoming US election in 2024, political advertising spend is anticipated to reach a record-breaking $15.5 billion (£12.2 billion).
