GroupM forecasts global ad spending to fall 5.5 per cent in 2009, 1.5 per cent in 2010

Global advertising spending in measured media is expected to drop 5.5 per cent to $417 billion in 2009 with a mild recovery expected in 2010 when the decline should ease to 1.4 per cent or $411 billion, according to the latest 70-country forecast report from GroupM.
 
The so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are expected to lead the recovery while ad spending in the US and the G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) will probably lag behind, according to the report.

The study, ''This Year, Next Year'' is part of GroupM's media and marketing forecasting series drawn from data supplied by parent company WPP's worldwide resources in advertising, public relations, market research, and specialist communications.

It was released by GroupM futures director Adam Smith in London and GroupM chief investment officer Rino Scanzoni in New York.

''China's economic stimulus has already bolstered confidence, and the demand for advertising in Russia will recover quickly if $70-a-barrel oil prices are here to stay,'' said Smith. ''Brazil and Indonesia remain among the top growth contributors, and India is predicted to come back strongly after pausing in 2009."

Advertising expenditures in the United States are expected to fall 4.3 percent this year followed by an anticipated 6.5 percent drop in 2010, according to the report. Those figures compare to an average 6.4 percent decline in 2009 followed by a 5.5 percent drop in 2010 in the G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States).

But Smith stressed that global prospects for a limited ad recovery in 2010 are improving.