TOKYO: In a further sign of recovery for the Japanese advertising industry, ad holding company Dentsu has reported that net sales for October 2013 were up 8.6% since the same period last year.

Total non-consolidated net sales reached ¥118,650 while spending was up in 15 out of 20 major categories, the company reported.

Interactive media reported the greatest increase of 34.3% to ¥4.81k, but other categories that witnessed major gains included creative (up 15.1% to ¥15.22k) and out-of-home media (up 8.7% to 4k¥).

Television, by far the largest category, grew by 7.4% to ¥56.72k while newspapers also reported impressive growth of 16.7% to ¥9.65k.

Net sales for magazines and radio, however, recorded decreases of 17.5% and 6.7% respectively to ¥3.31k and ¥1.2k.

In a statement, Dentsu spokesman Shusaku Kannan said: "The six consecutive months of growth indicate a steadily rising advertising demand in line with the economic recovery."

"Adspend in October was up in 15 industry categories out of 20 with nine showing double-digit growth," he added.

The results would seem to echo findings from the latest Warc International Ad Forecast, which reported that only Japan and the UK, out of 12 major markets, have had their adspend forecasts increased since the last report.

It forecast that adspend growth in Japan will increase to 1.5% for 2013 as a whole, rising to 2% in 2014, and that adspend on TV will grow by 1.6% this year.

Internet advertising is also expected to see strong growth of 7.5% this year, increasing to 7.7% in 2014.

Data sourced from Dentsu, The Nation; additional content by Warc staff