• by Wayne Friedman , July 18, 2013

Global advertising spending grew just under 2% in the first quarter of this year.

Nielsen says worldwide advertising spending was up 1.9% to $76.6 billion in the first quarter 2013. The biggest gains were in the Latin American region -- up 11.9%. Still, Nielsen warns that some traditional big spenders like Argentina are experiencing rising unemployment and high inflation.

The next-biggest growth areas were the Asia-Pacific countries -- up 5.8%. China, Indonesia and the Philippines all witnessed growth of about 20% each. Japan was the only country where ad spend decreased, off 1.1%.

After a decline in the early part of 2012, the Mideast and Africa grew 2.9% in the first quarter of 2013. With continuing civil unrest in Egypt, its advertising spend sank 20%.

Europe continues to decline -- down 4% due to ongoing widespread economic problems. But Nielsen says the region will recover in the short term.

Nielsen shows that North American ad spending was virtually flat in the first quarter of 2013 versus the same period a year ago.