UK first country in world where half of all ad spend is on digital media

The UK will this year become the first country in the world where half of all advertising spend goes on digital media.

Just over £16.2bn will be spent on all forms of advertising in the UK this year, including TV, newspapers, billboards, radio, online and on mobiles and tablets, according to eMarketer.

Digital advertising is expected to grow by 12% this year to £8.1bn, making the UK the first country in which £1 in every £2 will go on digital media.

The surge in digital ad spend is being fuelled by the explosion in popularity of portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. 

Within the overall digital category ad spend on mobile devices will rise 45% this year to £3.3bn.

“Digital reaching the 50% threshold in the UK is a significant moment for the ad industry,” said Bill Fisher, analyst at eMarketer. “The UK ad market is notable for its aggressive embrace of online advertising and its rapid adoption of mobile advertising.”

Fisher added that this is in part to do with the existence of the BBC’s TV and radio services.

“Because so much TV and radio programming appears ad-free in the UK the comparative spending on digital channels has always been high,” he said.

Globally digital ad spend accounts for just under 30% of total ad spend.

The UK has been long the world leader in terms of the proportion digital advertising takes of total ad spend, but come 2018 it will be usurped by China.

In 2018, 56.5% of all ad spend in the UK will be on digital, and in China it will account for 57.2%.

The rest of eMarketer’s 2015 UK report shows that TV ad spending will rise 3.2% this year to £4bn.

This means that this year will also see digital advertising become worth more than double TV advertising in the UK for the first time.

The UK newspaper print advertising market will fall 4% to £1.9bn.

Digital ad spend percentage share of total advertising spend, by country, 2015.

1. UK 50%
2. Norway 45%
3. China 43.6%
4. Australia 43.3%
5. Denmark 43.1%
6. Netherlands 35.4%
7. Canada 34.3%
8. US 31.3%
9. Sweden 30.5%
10. South Korea 28.4%

Source: eMarketer