AA/WARC: UK ad spend hits £6bn in Q1 2019

The latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report shows that UK ad spend rose 4.2% year-on-year to reach £6 billion in Q1 2019, making it the 23rd consecutive quarter of market growth. As Stephen Woodford, the CEO of the Advertising Association, said: “These figures are testament to the resilience of UK advertising during an uncertain period for business, leading up to the original Brexit date.”

Online advertising performed well across a number of formats, with online radio in particular seeing year-on-year growth of 26.5% in the first quarter. This positive story is also evident across other online formats with TV VOD up 17.5% in the same period, online display up 16.6% and digital out of home up 10.9%.

Woodford commented: “We see online advertising in all its forms continuing to perform strongly, demonstrating again how the UK is Europe’s leading online advertising marketplace.”

The UK is the biggest online advertising market in Europe and the highest per capita online spend in the G20 – fuelling businesses across the country. This is according to Credos and Enders Analysis’ Advertising Pays 7 report, which was launched at the IAB’s Engage event earlier this year. Watch the session here.

Overall, the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report forecasts total market growth of £24.6 billion in 2019, equivalent to a 4.6% increase, with the UK’s ad market expected to grow a further 5.3% in 2020.