China, India to Drive AsiaPac Ad Growth

Net advertising revenues in the Asia Pacific are expected to rise by 6.4 percent this year, following a 6.8 percent boost last year, according to new data from Media Partners Asia (MPA).

MPA assessed net ad revenues, after discounts, in 14 AsiaPac markets for the latest edition of its Asia Pacific Advertising Trends report. The total for 2016 was about $170 billion. Growth slowed last year from the 8.5 percent gain in 2015. Between 2017 and 2022, MPA projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.9 percent. The CAGR between 2012 and 2017 was 7.6 percent. This year, MPA predicts net ad revenues will hit $180 billion, reaching $230 billion by 2022.

“Future growth is becoming more challenged, as markets mature and working populations stagnate or decline,” said Vivek Couto, executive director of MPA. “This leaves China and India as the main dynamos of advertising growth. While Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are also important growth economies, they lag China and India in scale. Growth trajectories for the region’s other scale markets, Australia, Japan and Korea, are markedly lower than they have been in the past, for Korea in particular.”

MPA forecasts that India will become the region’s best-performing ad market over the next five years with a CAGR of 13.1 percent, reaching $17.1 billion by 2022, up from $9.2 billion in 2017. By 2022, India will be AsiaPac’s third-largest ad market, after China and Japan, toppling Australia from that slot. Rounding out the top five is Korea.

China’s ad revenues will reach $121 billion by 2022, up from $90 billion this year. Japan’s will rise from $46 billion to $50 billion. Australia will grow from $11.8 billion this year to $13.2 billion. Korea’s will hit $9.7 billion in 2022, up from $9 billion this year.

Indonesia is AsiaPac’s sixth-largest ad market, delivering $3.2 billion in net revenues by 2022, followed by Taiwan and then the Philippines. The Philippines will see rapid growth, of an 11.4 percent CAGR, bringing it from 11th place to 8th by 2022. Thailand is the third fastest-growing market, with a 6.8 percent CAGR.

“Domestic demand is stabilizing across key Asian economies, helping boost consumption, which is encouraging for advertising expenditure,” Couto said. “External demand is also improving, as exports reach new highs in a number of markets, but activity may decelerate significantly in 2H 2017. In general, economic growth is slowing down, although, among growth markets, China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines remain strong. Among mature markets, Japan is proving to be somewhat resilient and robust.”

MPA notes that TV advertising is robust in many markets, among them India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. However, net TV spend across AsiaPac was down slightly, by 0.5 percent in 2016. By 2022, TV will remain the largest ad platform in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Internet advertising soared by almost 21 percent in 2016, reaching $66 billion. It was the largest ad medium in Australia, China, Korea, New Zealand and Taiwan last year. By 2022, internet advertising will also lead in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

“Consumers are spending more time on mobile, social and online video platforms, driving demand for internet advertising,” Couto notes. “In most places, Google, including YouTube, and Facebook are dominant. In some markets, however, especially in India, Japan and Korea, local digital players, as well as key incumbents in TV and print, are beginning to grab a bigger slice of the pie. China, meanwhile, is entirely dominated by a local ecosystem.”