The global advertising recession is expected to end in 2010 due to recovery in high growth economies including China, according to a new report from media buying outfit Group M. Global ad spend will contract by 1.5 per cent in 2010, an improvement on the 5.5 per cent drop expected this year and sign that the slump is ending.

Group M said the improvement in the global advertising outlook was due to a recovery in the high growth economies, such as China and Russia, and the “next 11” emerging markets including Mexico, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

However, the report notes that the developed advertising markets of Europe and North America will continue to lag behind in the recovery phase over the next 18 months. Group M forecasts that the US market will be in a worse state next year than in 2009. In the UK, Group M is predicting a decline of 2.7 per cent in 2010, a marked improvement over the 13.9 per cent drop in ad spending this year.

In 2010 most media sectors in the UK will see an improvement on the steep advertising revenue declines of the past 12 months – although only regional papers are forecast to see year-on-year growth.

Adam Smith, futures director at Group M, commented: “Our global forecast for 2009 has finally stopped tumbling. The 15 countries still reporting positive ad growth in 2009 [will] become 33 in 2010 and this number could rise as we phase through the year. Group M expects China and Russia to be the turnaround stories of 2010."

Source: TMB Weekly