• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 2, 2017

According to its annual Global Advertising Trends report, research entity IHS Markit, saw big brand budgets and quadrennial events such as the Olympics, European Football Championship and US Presidential Election drive 2016’s global advertising revenue growth to $532 billion, up 7.1 percent.

Strong growth in private consumption also buoyed advertising revenue as brands tried to take advantage of heightened consumer spending. Advertising revenue accounted for 0.69 percent of global GDP in 2016, up from 0.66 percent in 2015, the report said.

Top ten ad markets include US, China, Japan, UK, Germany, Brazil, France, Canada, Australia and India.

Despite the continued growth of Facebook, Google and Snapchat, the TV market remained the largest advertising category, lifted by quadrennial events like the Olympics, the Euro Cup and the US elections. In some countries though, including the UK, online already accounts for almost 50% of total advertising revenue and HIS Markit forecasts that in the next 5 years, TV will be overtaken globally by online.

As for 2017, IHS Markit expects an 11.1% increase in advertising revenue to $590 billion. The strongest growth is expected to come from the Middle East and Africa, followed by APAC, where India and Indonesia are seen to top the list in terms of growth.