UK advertising growth fails to reach highs of 1990s

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 11-Jul-05, 09:15

LONDON - Growth in UK advertising spend has failed to recover to the levels seen in the 1990s, the Advertising Association said today, reporting growth of 5.6% in 2004 to £18.4bn.

Ten years ago, adspend was growing each year by figures closer to 10%, according to the research compiled by the World Advertising Research Center and published by the AA in its Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2005.

Although advertising expenditure has recovered from the dip in 2001, when it fell by 2.6% to £16.5bn, figures show that it has failed to reach the heights seen in the second half of the 1990s.

Last year, press remained by far the largest medium, accounting for 47.5% of all adspend, with regional newspapers and consumer magazines showing the best growth.

Television was the second largest medium, at 28.5%. Direct mail was next on 5.4%, then outdoor, taking 5.4% of spend.

Internet overtook radio advertising, with 3.6% of the market, compared with 3.3% for radio. And finally cinema took 1% of the advertising market.

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