Worldwide advertising spending grew by 3.2% year-over-year in 2012 to reach $557 billion, per data from Nielsen’s latest quarterly Global AdView Pulse report. After increasing by 2.7% in the first half of the year, ad spend heated up in Q3 to the tune of a 4.3% gain, before losing steam in Q4, increasing by 2.5%, the smallest gain of the year. For the full year, ad spending in North America grew by 4.6% (with the US’ increase recently reported by Kantar Media to be at 3%), while Europeans cut spending by 4.2%. That’s consistent with survey reports indicating a lack of budget confidence among European marketers.
The Middle East and Africa region reported the fastest ad spend growth, of 14.6%, while spending was also strong in Latin America, up 6.7% year-over-year. Expenditures in the Asia-Pacific region underwhelmed, though, registering only a 2.8% gain.
Other Findings:
- Germany, a stalwart of the European ad economy, saw spending dip by 1% in Q4, the second consecutive quarter of declines.
- China, the world’s 3rd largest advertising market, experienced an increase in ad spending of just 1.9%, contributing to the region’s muted results.
- Within the Middle East & Africa region, Egypt posted a 20.4% boost in spending.
About the Data: Nielsen Global AdView Pulse measures ad spending for TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, outdoor, cinema and Internet display advertising. Ad spend is based mainly on published rate-cards. Some markets may exclude select media due to data availability.
