UK advertising spend rises 15.9% in Q3 to £9.6 billion

Advertising spend beat expectations in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest quarterly data from WARC and the Advertising Association, driven by search and online display spending. 

Key figures

The AA/WARC report finds that spend rose by 15.9% to a total of £9.6bn for the period July to September 2023. This marks the first time that advertising spend in Q3 has exceeded the £9bn mark. 

• The UK advertising market is now thought to have grown by 6.4% in 2023, reaching a total of £37bn for the year, which represents a sizeable 3.8pp upgrade from the previous forecast. 
• The projection for advertising spend this year has been upwardly revised to £39bn, equating to a year-on-year increase of 5.9%.

2024 forecasts

 TV advertising is set to return to positive figures – up 1.4% year-on-year – mostly driven by increases in BVOD (+14.6%). Other expected growth areas include: 

• Radio (+2.1%)
• Online channels of national newsbrands (+2.1%) 
• Regional newsbrands (+1.1%) 
• Magazine media (+2.3%) 

Key growth areas

Search marked its strongest performance in 18 months rising by 23.7% and online display followed suit with a 24.8% increase, also achieving its highest gain in the same period. 

For comparison, online growth in France was approximately 5% during the quarter, while the UK grew 4.6 times faster at 22.3%. 

Online retailers increased their online ad spend in the UK market by 156% during Q3 2023 as competition for household budgets increased. 

Spend on broadcaster video on-demand (BVOD) increased by 28.4%, reflecting in part the role on-demand viewing played during the Women’s FIFA World Cup.

Expert comment

With the UK’s economy in the doldrums, the online ad sector’s strongest performance in over 18 months – growing five times faster than in key European markets – came as a welcome respite for an ad industry worth a record £37bn overall last year. 

“Data show that online retailers more than doubled their online advertising spend during the third quarter, as pricing became competitive and brand salience paramount when attracting stretched household budgets. 

“Our expectations for 2024 are now brighter on the tailwind of a strong end to last year and positive sentiment across the marketing and wider business sectors” - James McDonald, Director of Data, Intelligence & Forecasting, WARC