UK spent £10.8bn on ads in first half of 2017

Digital advertising accounted for more than half of the £10.8 billion spent on ads by UK brands during the first six months of 2017, new figures show.

The latest statistics from the Advertising Association and WARC reveal that advertising spend increased by 3.7 per cent between January and June this year, marking the second highest total since this metric first began to be measured back in 1982.

Over the course of the year as a whole, the report authors expect advertising expenditure to have risen by 3.1 per cent in comparison to 2016, bringing the total spent to some £22 billion.

So far this year, the biggest area of spending has been on 'digital out of home' advertisements, which accounted for 54 per cent of the total, equivalent to £5.8 million.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive at the Advertising Association, commented: "We know advertising has a positive effect on the economy, with every pound spent generating £6 of GDP, so it is good to see steady, sustained growth."