2017 breaks UK adspend record

2017 sees UK adspend figures grow for the 8th consecutive year.

UK advertising expenditure grew 4.6% to reach £22.2bn in 2017. According to the Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report – the UK’s definitive advertising statistics – released last week shows it’s been the eighth consecutive year of market growth.

Continuing the positive results for the UK advertising industry as a whole, the final three months of 2017 saw expenditure grow 6.2% in Q4 year on year, making it the first time ever in a single quarter to reach over £6bn, with £6.1bn. This includes adspend during the crucial Christmas period – a time when innovative and popular ad campaigns have become the hallmark of the UK advertising industry.

The future is still looking bright for advertising in the UK, the full year growth forecast for 2018 has been upgraded by 1.4 percentage points to 4.2% growth, and a further rise of 3.8% is expected for 2019. If proved correct, this will complete a decade of continuous expansion for the UK advertising industry.

“These very impressive adspend figures demonstrate the strength and resilience of the UK advertising industry over the course of 2017. To see adspend hit the £6bn mark in Q4 is a very encouraging result, as is the prediction that we will see 10 years of continued growth through 2019. The results also reflect wider trends within the UK economy over recent months, with inflation at its lowest for a year, reducing pressure on wages, strong employment statistics, and the recent upgrade by the IMF of its economic growth forecast for the UK for this year.”

Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive at the Advertising Association

Looking more closely by sector, digital out of home was one of the best performing sectors over the course of 2017, up 22.9%.

To find out how digital out of home advertising is going from strength to strength and how it can help your business, please get in touch with our team.