AsiaPac to Surpass North America as Largest Digital Ad Market

BOSTON: Strategy Analytics is forecasting that the Asia-Pacific region will overtake North America this year to become the world’s biggest market for digital advertising spend.

This would be the first time that AsiaPac digital ad spend surpassed that of North America. Digital adverting spending in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to rise 18.2 percent in 2016 to $59.7 billion. North America, meanwhile, will rise 9.6 percent to $59.5 billion.

Asia Pacific’s growth is being driven by China, which will increase 25.1 percent to $22.4 billion. China is now the world’s second biggest country for digital spend, behind the U.S. ($55.6 billion). These two countries combined will account for 44 percent of global digital ad spend this year.

The Asia Pacific accounts for half of the six biggest digital markets globally: with China (second), Japan (fourth) and Korea (sixth). By 2021, AsiaPac’s digital ad market will be 33-percent bigger than North America’s, according to Strategy Analytics.

Overall, digital ad spend globally is set to rise 12.6 percent in 2016 to $176.7 billion, a 32-percent share of total advertising spend.

Michael Goodman, Strategy Analytics’s digital media director, said: “Advertising is about ‘eyeballs’ and the sheer scale of the Chinese market, along with India and Indonesia, is why Asia Pacific will overtake North America this year, despite underlying economic weakness in some economies. Millions just can’t compete with billions.”

Goodman added, “Asia Pacific’s relatively low ad spend per capita shows the tremendous potential for growth compared to the more saturated markets in the West, particularly with mobile phones removing a barrier to internet access in less developed markets. This will grow the online population dramatically and, consequently, ad spend will follow suit.”