Global Ad Spend Trend Forecasts by Medium and Country

Online advertising will account for more than half of global advertising expenditure by 2021, according to recent research from Zenith.

The report was based on global ad spend forecasts made by Zenith researchers for 2019 through 2021.

Internet advertising is forecast to account for 52% of global advertising expenditure in 2021, exceeding the 50% mark for the first time. That’s up from 47% of global ad spend in 2019 and 44% in 2018.

Among traditional channels, the share of global ad spend going toward newspapers, magazines, television, and radio is forecast to shrink between now and 2021. The share of spend going to out-of-home is expected to remain steady, and the share going to cinema is expected to increase slightly thanks to a boom in the popularity of films in China.

Total global ad spend is forecast to grow 4.6% this year, down from an increase of 6.4% in 2018.

The researchers expect global ad spend to grow at a slower rate compared with the global economy in 2020 and 2021.

The United States and China are expected to be the leading drivers of ad spend growth in the coming years.

Zenith forecasts that the United States will be responsible for 46% of additional ad expenditure between 2018 and 2021, and China will be responsible for 10%.

The significant spend increase in the United States is expected to be largely driven by rapid growth in Internet advertising.

About the research: The report was based on global ad spend forecasts made by Zenith researchers for 2019 through 2021.