Q1 Adspend Down 7.2 Percent

AMSTERDAM: Global advertising spending dropped 7.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Global AdView Pulse from Nielsen, with European countries being hit the hardest, including Spain, Ireland, Italy and the U.K.

In Spain, ad spend across TV, newspapers, magazines and radio was down by 28.2 percent in quarter, while Ireland saw its market contract by 21.2 percent. Italy was down 19.1 percent, the report notes, and the U.K. fell by 14.7 percent. On the whole in Europe, ad spend was down 8.7 percent. North America fell by 12.4 percent, with the U.S. down 12.7 percent. The good news came out of Asia, which experienced just a 2.3 percent fall as compared with Q1 last year. Indonesia showed the greatest growth in the region, the report reveals, with 19.1 percent, while China saw its growth slow to 2.5 percent from 17.1 percent last year.

"The effects of the global financial crisis have certainly caught up with the ad sector in this latest quarter, especially in North America and Europe, where virtually all of the territories we reported on recorded negative growth," said Ben van der Werf, the managing director of Global AdView. "Even China, which usually sees a boost in ad spend during Chinese New Year, posted subdued growth for the quarter."

In the period, TV ad spend was down 4.7 percent globally, with a 8.6 percent reduction in Europe and 9.3 percent in North America. In the Asia Pacific, however, TV ad spend was up by 1 percent.