Worldwide ad spending growth will accelerate across the board in 2024

Digital media, traditional media, and total media ad spending will all grow faster worldwide this year than in 2023. After two years of relative malaise, the outlook is very positive on a global scale and in every major region.

• Total worldwide ad spending growth will be nearly 10% in 2024. Back in 2021, total media ad spending increased by 21.8%, but that was an extreme rebound figure facilitated by pandemic-driven 0.0% growth in 2020. Other than the 2021 spike, this year’s 9.7% total media growth will be the fastest on record since our worldwide tracking began in 2011.
• Digital ad spending will outpace the overall growth rate, as usual, but the gap will be narrow. Digital advertising will account for almost 70% of worldwide ad spending this year, and by 2027 it will make up nearly 75%. Because of that huge share figure, the metrics for total media advertising now largely mirror the metrics for digital.

• Traditional ad spending will also have an unusually decent year, although at a very modest level. Better macroeconomic conditions, the Summer Olympics, UEFA Euro 2024, and increased political ad spending (mainly in the US) will combine to bring traditional ad spending momentarily out of the doldrums. Last year was one of the worst years ever for traditional, so the growth numbers will also be flattered by low YoY comparisons.
• Every region in the world will see improved ad spending growth in 2024. A handful of countries and subregions—most notably Southeast Asia—will buck the positive trend and decelerate, but a wide-angle view shows good news across the map.