UK ad market to rebound strongly from pandemic

UK adspend is forecast to grow by 15.2% this year to reach a total of £27.0bn, recovering the entirety of 2020’s £1.8bn decline, according to the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report which includes final figures for last year. This is expected to precede a 7.2% rise in 2022, by when the market will be worth a record £29.0bn.

Key findings

• Most media owners recorded significant reductions in spend in 2020 but, in a positive end to the year, spending rose 2.6% during the final three months. This resulted in the highest quarterly total on record (£7.0bn).
• Adspend growth is forecast for all media in 2021, but some – namely TV, direct mail, and publishing sectors – won’t recover 2020’s losses fully until next year.
• Government adspend grew 37.2% during 2020 as public health messaging was deployed in the effort to combat COVID-19. This spend is set to fall back in 2021, with growth instead expected across the main consumer categories, notably services (up 22.0%), industrial (up 19.8%) and financial (up 20.2%).

The big picture

“Across the economy that advertising serves, we saw remarkable innovation and agility, which helped to lessen the economic impact as firms adapted to keep serving their customers, despite the disruption” – Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive, Advertising Association.