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Global Ad Spend Set to Top $1 Trillion in 2025

Global ad spending will rise by 10.7% this year to exceed $1 trillion for the first time, according to the latest forecasts from WARC. The projection has been revised slightly upwards from the previous 10.5% forecast issued a few months earlier, and would represent a near-doubling of 2023’s growth rate (5.7%).

In its latest release, WARC notes that global ad spending has more than doubled over the past decade, growing at a much faster rate than global economic output. Further expansion of the global ad market is expected in the next couple of years, with 2025 set for a 7.6% hike and 2026 for a 7.0% climb. (The 2025 forecast has also been revised upwards from the previous estimate of 7.2%, while the 2026 prediction remains unchanged.)

By the end of 2026, the global advertising market would total more than $1.24 trillion.

Pure play internet advertising – defined by WARC as ad spend among online-only businesses – is on track to grow by 14.1% to $741.4 billion this year. That would represent more than two-thirds (68.8%) of total ad spending.

Social media – as the largest component of pure play internet advertising – will end the year as the single largest advertising medium in the world. Ad spending on social media is expected to surge by 19.3% this year to $252.7 billion, or almost one-quarter (23.5%) of all ad spend. That increase is a close second only to connected TV, forecast for a 19.6% hike.

While its growth rates will moderate to +13.3% next year and ~9% in 2026, by that time social media will account for 1 in every $4 spent on ads worldwide.

Among other media types:

• Linear TV will end 2024 with ad spend growth of 1.9%. While linear TV now only accounts for about 1 in every $7 spent on ads worldwide (14.3% share), down from its peak of 41.3% share in 2013, it remains more than 4 times higher than connected TV (CTV) ad spend.
• Outdoor media continues to expand (as it has in the US), with the healthiest results of any legacy medium. Spending is set to end this year up by 7.2%, with 29% going to digital channels.
• Cinema ad spend also is rising, with the forecast envisioning a 6.1% hike this year.
• However, it’s not all on the upswing for legacy media, with declines for radio (-2.3%) and publishing (-2.4%).
• All told, legacy media ad spending will rise by 3.8% this year, representing the first increase since 2021. Legacy media will account for less than one-third (31.2%) of total ad spend.