UK advertising spend totalled £42.6 billion in 2024, according to the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report.
The report, published today, highlighted that online formats, when combined, increased by 13.2% last year, with £4 in every £5 of marketing budgets now spent online.
Forecasts from the body predict that total spend will rise by 6.3% to reach £45.2 billion in 2025 and rise by 5.6% in 2026 to £47.8 billion.
According to the study, online display channels saw a boost last year with an overall increase of 15.1%, this included social media, which accounted for 53% of the category.
Stephen Woodford, CEO, Advertising Association, said: “While the UK advertising industry growth is well ahead of UK growth, it’s worth noting business confidence may weaken due to geopolitical headwinds and regulatory uncertainty, which could impact on the way businesses commit to spend on advertising.
“However, it’s important to remember once again that advertising supports competition and promotes innovation, and helps to create jobs across the UK, so a healthy advertising sector is integral to a healthy economy. The UK advertising market is constantly dynamic, with these latest figures recording the rise of retail media and the growth of advertising opportunities from video-on-demand, reducing the cost of access to TV content for people.”
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TV spend rose by 3.8% to £5.8 billion in 2024 and the category has been expanded to include more video services like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+.
The search sector also recorded growth, with expenditure rising to 12.8% to £16.9 billion.
It also showcased the results of last year’s Christmas advertising season, which reported a 9.1% increase from the previous year.
Search (12.5%), online display (15.4%), TV video-on-demand (23.2%) and cinema (24.2%) all performed well over the festive period, with cinema’s performance attributed to several well-received films including Gladiator II, Paddington in Peru and Wicked.
James McDonald, director of data, intelligence and forecasting, WARC, said: “Though we expect investment to grow in the coming years, we are cognisant that confidence in the UK’s advertising market remains fragile, burdened by sustained economic stagnation and recently introduced business taxes outlined in the Autumn statement.
“The introduction of new trade tariffs by the Trump administration adds further complexity, particularly for sectors with high exposure to international supply chains.”
