Nielsen: Global Ad Spend Up in First Half of 2013

NEW YORK: Global ad spend increased 2.8 percent on a year-over-year basis for the first half of 2013, according to Nielsen's Global AdView Pulse report, which finds that marketers in Latin America had the highest increase in spending for the period.

For the second quarter of 2013, expenditures grew 3.5 percent.

All regions contributed to the global growth, except Europe, where there was a 6-percent decline for the period from January to June. Latin America was booming, with gains of 13.1 percent to $13.5 billion. There was quarterly growth of 3.9 percent in the Middle East and Africa. The Asia Pacific had growth of 6.4 percent and North America of 2.7 percent.

Within Latin America, Argentina contributed significantly to the growth in the region, with a nearly 30-percent increase in ad spending. Indonesia, China and the Philippines all contributed double-digit growth in the Asia Pacific for the first half of the year, with expenditures reaching $51 billion. In Europe, ad spending was up in Norway (2.5 percent), Switzerland (0.6 percent) and Greece (7.4 percent), though all other countries in the region saw a decline.