UK ad spend reaches record £22.2bn in 2017

Advertising spend in the UK hit a record high of £22.2bn in 2017, according to the latest figures from the Advertising Association and Warc Expenditure report.

The Expenditure Report, which is the only source that uses verified advertising revenue figures gathered from across the entire media landscape, rather than relying solely on estimated or modelled data, put annual growth at 4.6% in 2017 and forecast continued growth of 4.2% in 2018 and 3.8% in 2019.

“To see adspend hit the £6bn mark in Q4 is a very encouraging result, as is the prediction that we will see ten years of continued growth through 2019,” said Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive at the Advertising Association, as he welcomed this demonstration of “the strength and resilience of the UK advertising industry”.

The AA/Warc report found digital formats performed well across the board over the course of 2017, up 26.3% for digital radio, 19.3% for national digital newsbrands, 7.1% for broadcaster video-on-demand. Spend on cinema also increased, showing growth of around 3.3%.