On 22 August WARC published its Global Ad Spend Outlook 2024/2025, revealing that global ad spend is expected to increase by 10.5% this year, growing to $1.07 trillion and marking its best performance in six years (disregarding the post-Covid recovery in 2021).
This upward trend is forecasted to continue, with WARC reporting that growth is also anticipated for 2025 (+7.2%) and 2026 (+7.0%). This would bring the global ad market to a total of $1.23 trillion.
Since 2014, global ad investment has increased 2.8 times more quickly than global economic output. According to WARC, three companies alone (Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet) account for over 70% of the incremental spend. They are also expected to dominate 43.6% of global ad spend in 2024.
Another key finding of WARC’s Global Ad Spend Outlook 2024/25 revealed that retail media, social media and CTV lead digital growth. James McDonald, Director of Data, Intelligence and Forecasting at WARC, commented:
‘With retail media expected to lead ad spend growth over the coming years, and with new, diverse players emerging in ad selling – from Uber to Chase – we are once again seeing the value of first party data in targeting the right person with the right message at the right time. Such data, combined with new AI enhancements, will constitute the fabric of the advertising industry for the next decade and beyond.’
WARC’s research further revealed that the fastest-growing consumer sectors for next year will be Technology & Electronics (+13.2%), Alcoholic Drinks (+12.2%) and Clothing & Accessories (+11.1%).
Looking at regional trends, WARC reported that North America’s ad spend is forecast to grow by 8.6% to $347.5 bn, with US political spend alone expected to reach $15.8 billion. Europe’s ad spend is also projected to increase by 5.0% to reach $164.9 billion.
The full report can be found on WARC’s website.
Featured image: WARC