Advertising spend in Asia-Pacific is forecast to grow by 4% to reach US$216bn in 2019, with the region expected to be the leading contributor to a global increase of 3.6%.

That is according to the latest adspend forecast from Dentsu Aegis Network, which expects APAC to account for 39% of global growth this year, followed by North America (34%), Western Europe (14%), Latin America (11%) and Central and Eastern Europe (3%).

Based on data from 59 markets, Dentsu forecasts that total worldwide investment will reach $US609.9bn this year, although global growth is down from 4.3% in 2018, Branding in Asia reported.

Growth of 4% in Asia-Pacific this year is also down from the 5.3% increase the region reported in 2018 and is a figure that has been revised down from 4.5% growth that Dentsu predicted in January.

The slowdown is also affecting China, the region’s largest advertising market, where growth of 5.4% is expected this year – down from 7% growth that Dentsu forecast earlier this year.

That is because of a higher than expected decline in TV adspend, although Dentsu says that China continues to have “a surprisingly healthy and stable growth rate, which remains on track despite the headwinds from trade tensions with the US”.

As in other markets, digital is the biggest driver of adspend growth in China and it is expected to account for almost two-thirds (63.6%) of spending growth in 2019.

India is forecast to produce double-digit adspend growth of 11.4% this year, driven to a large extent by the ICC Cricket World Cup. TV still leads the way in India, with a 39% share of advertising expenditure compared to digital’s share of 21%.

Meanwhile, Australia is expected to see more modest growth of 1.9% this year, with most of the growth coming from digital and video channels.

Online video adspend in the country is forecast to grow 28.4%, with overall digital adspend accounting for more than half (54%) of total media spend.

Commenting on the findings, Takaki Hibino, executive chairman of Dentsu Aegis Network APAC, said: “Asia-Pacific has long been the melting pot of digital and technological developments.

“Though we have been facing a tougher economic environment, our adspend forecast has shown that digital connectivity in APAC remains at its peak and consumer adoption rates have leapfrogged.”

Sourced from Dentsu Aegis Network, Branding in Asia; additional content by WARC staff