London—Research company Warc has downgraded its global ad spending forecast to 4.0% growth this year, down from an August forecast of 4.9% growth. It cited continued uncertainty about the global economy in making its revision.
Next year, global ad spending will increase 5.5%, Warc projects.
The fastest-growing advertising medium this year will be online, with spending surging 13.8%. All other media will show modest growth to declining spending, including cinema (up 3.8%), TV (up 3.2%), out-of-home (up 2.9%), radio (up 2.0%), magazines (down 2.5%) and newspapers (down 2.7%).
The countries showing the most growth in ad spending this year will be Russia (up 12.3%), China (up 10.9%), Brazil (up 9.8%) and India (up 8.5%), Warc said. Ad spending in the U.S is expected to be up only 2.2% this year.
