Digital publishing grows revenues in 2021

Total UK digital publishing revenue grew to £174m in Q4 2021, up by 13.4% compared to Q4 2020, with growth across all revenue categories.

That’s according to the latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index (DPRI) from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and Deloitte. Across the whole year, revenue was up 27.6%. 

Why it matters

The growth of the digital publishing market in 2021 indicates consumers have been willing to invest in quality, trustworthy reporting. But as households face rising living expenses in 2022, that’s no longer certain. 

“To maintain a strong subscriber base, publishers must focus on emphasising the rigour of their reporting, while improving the accessibility of their online platform,” says Dan Ison, lead partner for telecommunications, media and entertainment at Deloitte.

Key statistics

• During Q4 2021, recruitment classified took first place as the largest category by growth, increasing by 59.9% to £5.6m. 
• Sponsorship revenues and subscriptions also stood out for recording impressive growth, up by 29.1% and 19.1% respectively in Q4 2021.
• Display advertising held its position as the largest category by revenue for digital publishers: income reached £77.4m in Q4 2021, an increase of 12.5% against Q4 2020.
• On mobile devices, display revenues more than doubled year-on-year, from £7.6m in Q4 2020 to £16.5m 12 months later; video revenue surged 325% in that period, while digital audio was up 200%.
• B2B revenue increased 19.1% in Q4 2021 relative to Q4 2020 (from £13.1m to £15.6m), while B2C grew 12.8% relative to Q4 2020 (from £140.4m to £158.4m). 

Sourced from AOP