China’s ad market to rise 6.5% in 2018

CHINA’S advertising market is predicted to grow 6.5 percent from a year ago to 630 billion yuan (US$96 billion), up from the estimated 5.4 percent growth made in January, representing 16.2 percent of the global ad market.

Growth will be driven by digital spending, which is forecast to make up 60 percent and increase by 14.8 percent in 2018, Dentsu Aegis Network said in its Global Adspend Forecasts.

Internet giants including Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are projected to contribute about 80 percent of this growth, underlining their dominance in the marketplace.

The China ad market is forecast to grow 6 percent in 2019, driven by a 12.5 percent increase in digital ad spending, with e-commerce spending set to make up 40.5 percent of total digital spending in 2019.

Globally, ad spending is forecast to grow 3.9 percent in 2018 to US$613.5 billion due to a more positive outlook globally, accelerating from a 3.3 percent annual increase in the previous year.

Contribution to new global ad dollars in 2018 is driven in particular by the US and China, which account for around one third and one quarter of new growth, respectively. Russia, India and China will be the three fastest growing markets.

Global advertising expenditure is expected to increase at the same pace next year despite the lack of significant sporting and political events powering expansion.