The forecast, based on data from 59 markets across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, the June forecast suggests a more cautious economic outlook in 2017 than 2016, with global ad spend growth falling from 4.8% to 3.8%. 

But conditions are set to improve in 2018, with a forecast growth in ad spend of 4.3%. Events such as the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in South Korea, the FIFA World Cup in Russia and the US Congressional elections are all expected to stimulate ad spend growth. 

In the UK, ad spend growth held up better than expected in 2016 at 6.1%. This growth has dipped to 4% in 2017, but is forecast to recover to 5.9%. The US shows a similar picture, with a slowdown to 3.6% forecast for 2017, followed by a slight improvement to 4% in 2018. 

It is anticipated that in 2018 digital will be the top media in terms of global share of spend, taking over television for the first time. Digital’s share of total media spend is predicted to reach a share of 37.6% in 2018, up from 34.8% in 2017. Television will have a share of 35.9% in 2018, down from 37.1% in 2017. 

“We are reaching a tipping point in ad spend now as digital overtakes television, mobile overtakes desktop and paid search overtakes print," said Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network.

"Digital and data must now be the default settings for advertisers. Evolving to people-based marketing rather than audience-based marketing and using data to increase addressability is essential for brands to manage tighter conditions in 2017 while positioning themselves for future growth.”