Online records largest advertising gain
Posted:Monday, June 26, 2006

According to the Advertising Association, the internet recorded by far the largest gain in percentage terms in 2005, rising by 65.6% when measured at current price to reach £1.37 billion up from a revised figure for 2004 of £825 million.

Overall, advertising expenditure in the United Kingdom rose by to almost £19 billion in 2005 an increase of 0.6% in real terms. The figure for total advertising expenditure in the UK during 2005, which stood at just under £18.5 billion in 2004, includes production costs as well as media spend.

The press sector accounted for by far the largest share of total advertising expenditure with 45.3% of spend in the UK, with television taking second place (25.4%), followed by direct mail (12.5%), internet (7.2%), outdoor (5.5%), radio (3.1%) and cinema (1.0%).

Advertising expenditure in the press sector as a whole declined by 1.8% in 2005 when measured at current prices (or by 3.7% in real terms), with national newspapers, regional newspapers and business magazines have seen declining fortunes.

Advertising expenditure in directories, rose by 5.3% in 2005 to £1.1 billion when measured at current prices.

TV advertising increased by 3.6% in 2005 amounting to £4.8 billion when measured at current prices - a rise of 1.5% in real terms - whilst spend in the outdoor and transport increased to just over £1to reach £1 billion.

Following growth in 2004, advertising expenditure in the cinema and radio sectors fell by 2.1% and 4.5% respectively in 2005 when measured at current prices. Expenditure on direct mail also declined, falling by 3.9% over the course of 2005 as a whole, although positive growth was seen in this sector during the final quarter of 2005.

In April 2006, research conducted by the World Advertising Research Center (WARC) in conjunction with the Advertising Association expects the UK advertising market to grow by 2.6% in 2006, ahead of a 2.2% increase in the USA and an estimated 1.4% in the rest of Europe.