PQ Media Forecasts Ad Spend To Decelerate

Global advertising and marketing spending accelerated in 2024, rising 8.7% to $1.776 trillion, but spending is projected to decelerate in 2025, posting only a 5.3% gain, as inflation and recessionary fears reappear in many markets due to the expectation that the Trump Administration will levy higher tariffs on foreign goods, which may lead to major trading partners imposing counter tariffs on US goods. Growth in 2024 was fueled by the influx of advertising & marketing dollars from elections in 15 of the 20 largest global markets as well as worldwide coverage of the Paris Summer Olympics, according to new research released today by leading media economist PQ Media.

The global advertising sector grew 7.9% in 2024 to $791.61 billion, while the overall marketing sector expanded 9.4% to $984.49 billion, according to PQ Media's Global Advertising & Marketing Spending Forecast 2025-2029. Global digital & alternative media spending increased 13.3% to $935.07 billion in 2024, while traditional media spend grew 4.1% to $841.09 billion.

The US remained the world's largest media market in 2024 and ranked seventh as far as spending growth. Total US ad & marketing investments rose 9.7% to $708.45 billion last year, driven by a surge in political media spending in hotly contested races in key states and record expenditures on various ad & marketing media to fund a riveting presidential campaign. Also driving growth were major omnimedia brand campaigns that spanned across multiple platforms and channels throughout the exciting Paris Summer Olympics.

Growth in the overall global and US markets was driven by double-digit expansion in 29 of 45 digital media channels tracked by PQ Media, led by smart technology marketing (STM), streaming video, podcasting, digital out-of-home media, influencer marketing and content marketing.

PQ Media expects year-to-year growth to decelerate in 2025 as high inflation worries and recession anxieties have intensified due to uncertainty regarding Trump's proposal to levy more aggressive tariffs on foreign goods, which may lead to major US trading partners imposing counter tariffs on US goods. While the negotiated cease fire between Israel and Hamas may ease some of these fears in 1H 2025, the war between Russia and Ukraine rages on into a fourth year.