The UK advertising sector grew by 13.4% in the second quarter of 2024, recording £10 billion in spend, according to the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report. Total ad spend for the first half of the year increased 13.5% to £19.6 billion.
In the quarter running from April to June this year, strong growth was registered within online display (21.6%), out-of-home (17.0% – DOOH grew by 20.7% within this), and search (12.7%). The Men’s Euros helped TV grow 9%, representing its strongest quarter in over two years (BVOD was up 14.2%). Notably, regional newsbrands and magazines registered their first growth since the pandemic bounce back of Q2 2022, increasing 1.9% and 0.5% respectively.
“Four in every five pounds spent on advertising so far this year has gone towards digital formats, money which has mostly been committed programmatically and which is increasingly leveraging AI tools for further efficiencies,” said James McDonald, Director of Data, Intelligence & Forecasting at WARC. “The strong growth across the online sector in particular during the first half of 2024 has put the UK’s ad market on course for its best year since the millennium, if the post-pandemic recovery
Across 2024, AA/WARC has upgraded its forecasts by 2.9 percentage points (pp), and expects full-year spend to cross the £40 billion mark for the first time. In hitting £40.5 billion, spend would have increased 10.6% (7.9% in real terms) year-on-year. This would put growth ahead of other key European markets, such as France (8.0%), Spain (5.7%), Italy (5.4%), and Germany (4.0%).
AA/WARC predicts that the UK ad market will continue to grow at a decent rate in 2025, reaching £43.1 billion. This would represent a 6.5% increase, and is 1pp than July’s forecast.
“The advertising industry is once again driving UK growth, helping businesses to compete, promote innovation and support jobs,” said Stephen Woodford, Advertising Association CEO. “It is an essential engine of the economy and key to the Government’s central ambition to achieve the highest sustained growth in the G7. Advertising has a vital role in funding culture, media and sport – and the results of Q2 show how advertising can play a fundamental part in supporting the success of events such as the Men’s Euros, the Olympics and the Paralympics.” year of 2021 is discounted.”
