SINGAPORE: Advertising expenditure levels are set to increase by more than 5% in Asia Pacific this year, a rate of growth predicted to accelerate further going forward.

Media Partners Asia, the consultancy, reported that adspend across the region climbed by some 5.3% in 2011 after ratecard discounts, measured against an 8.9% lift in 2010.

Looking ahead, the organisation forecast that totals would surge by 7.3% in 2012 and 7.1% in 2013, building on the momentum accrued over the second half of last year.

"Consumer sentiment in China, India and Southeast Asia softened in Q1," Vivek Couto, of Media Partners Asia, said. "But we still expect robust adspending patterns for key markets in 2012".

More specifically, the company suggested that Indonesia is in line to register a 15% expansion on in revenues on an annual basis, largely driven by television, which currently takes 70% of ad sales.

Elsewhere, China's advertising sector is due to be up by 14% year on year, with India enjoying a 12% leap and the Philippines witnessing an 8% increase.

Thailand is also anticipated to recover from the recent flood to see a rise topping 8%, with Japan observing similarly positive trends following last year's natural disasters, and growing by 3%.

"A major turnaround in Japan is perhaps the most important event for the region as underlying demand across TV and online platforms picks up," Couto said.

By the end of this year, television is projected to hold a 36.1% market share in Asia as a whole, an amount which has remained essentially stable during the previous three years.

In the same period, however, the internet's figures have improved from 12.8% to 18.2%, not least to the detriment of print, down from 28% to 24% on this metric.

Data sourced from Media Partners Asia; additional content by Warc staff