• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, December 6, 2023

Dentsu this morning released an update of its 2023 and 2024 ad-spending forecasts, once again shaving its worldwide estimates for both years.

Dentsu now expects this year's global ad market to expand only 2.7% -- the most dour of the Big 4 agency forecasting estimates, down half a percentage point from its last revision in May and down nearly two percentage points from when it first benchmarked a 2023 forecast (see chart above).

While Dentsu reduced its 2024 growth estimate for global ad spending by only a tenth of a point, it is its forth consecutive downgrade  -- and a loss of 1.2 percentage points -- since first benchmarking its 2024 outlook in January 2022.

Dentsu attributed the downward revisions to a slowdown in the worldwide economy, but also noted that 2024 should be relatively stable overall, with growth expected to remain above 4.% each quarter, peaking at a 5.3% gain in the third quarter of the year when major global sports events -- the Paris Olympic Games, the Paralympics and UEFA Euro -- will provide ad-spending impetus.

And while Dentsu took its U.S. ad forecast down another notch for this year, it actually boosted its 2024 outlook two-tenths of a point to +5.8%.