UK ad investment grew 11.0% to £12.3bn in Q2 2026, with full-year spend now forecast to hit £51.3bn
London, October 29, 2026: The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report forecasts UK advertising investment will reach £14.0bn in Q4 2026, up 8.2% year-on-year, as advertising continues to support economic growth in the UK.
The report also confirms strong performance in the second quarter of 2026, with advertising investment rising by 11.0% year-on-year to £12.3bn. Looking ahead, total advertising expenditure for 2026 is now forecast to reach£51.3bn, a 9.9% increase on the previous year. A further 6.5% rise is projected for 2027, taking total spend to £54.7bn.
Q2 2026 in detail:
The new figures reveal strong momentum in Q2 2026 across the UK advertising landscape, with total ad investment rising 11.0% to £12.3bn.
Retail media commanded an 8.4% share of total advertising investment, growing 31.2% year-on-year, as the channel continued to open up more touchpoints along the consumer journey. Cinema also posted strong growth of 24.5% year-on-year in Q2 2026, due to major releases including The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Toy Story 5.
Double-digit growth was recorded across several other channels, including social media (22.2%), out of home (12.7%) and addressable TV (12.7%). Smaller but still positive gains were seen for search (9.3%), direct mail (4.5%), online classified (4.4%), digital radio (3.2%) and TV (2.6%).
Festive Season Outlook
Advertising investment across the festive period is set to reach £14.0bn, a £1.06bn boost on last year, as advertising investment climbs by 8.2% year-on-year.
Advertising continues to play a vital role in supporting the UK economy, as festive campaigns rollout across a range of channels. Social media is projected to rise 18.5% year-on-year, alongside retail media (16.2%) and addressable TV (15.1%). Cinema (8.6%) and search (7.8%) are both set to continue to see growth throughout the festive period.
Increased high-street footfall during the golden quarter is set to benefit out of home (OOH), forecast to grow 7.5%, with digital OOH up 9.5%. Further gains are anticipated for digital radio (4.7%), direct mail (1.8%), total TV (1.6%) and online classified (1.6%).
Expectations for full-year 2026 and 2027
Advertising investment growth is expected to moderate in the second half of 2026 and further into 2027, rising by 9.9% overall this year and 6.5% next year.
Full-year UK advertising investment for 2026 is forecast to reach £51.3bn, an upward revision of 1.8 percentage points on the July 2026 forecast. Growth will be led by retail media (23.0%), social media (20.7%) and addressable TV (14.7%), with further gains expected across out of home (10.8%), search (9.1%), digital radio (9.1%), cinema (6.9%), direct mail (4.1%), and total TV (0.9%).
Looking ahead to 2027, total advertising investment is projected to reach £54.7bn. Key growth drivers include social media (13.3%), retail media (13.0%) and addressable TV (10.9%), alongside continued gains in search (6.6%), digital radio (4.2%), digital OOH (4.3%), and TV (1.7%).
Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive, Advertising Association, said: “As we approach the festive season, UK advertising continues to demonstrate strong growth momentum, with Q4 investment forecast to rise 8.2% year-on-year to £14.0bn. This represents a £1.06bn boost compared to the same period in 2025, underlining the vital role advertising plays across all channels and media formats in supporting business growth during the golden quarter and beyond.”
Suzy Young, Head of Media Data, WARC, said:
“Q2 2026 ad investment remained strong despite geopolitical headwinds and weak consumer confidence linked to the Middle East conflict. Growth was boosted by the FIFA World Cup, but increasingly reflects AI investment, as platforms enhance targeting while both new AI-native companies and established tech firms compete for customers – a dynamic that improves efficiency while generating new demand, helping offset weaker sentiment. This AI-driven boost is especially pronounced in the UK, given the maturity of its digital advertising market.”
UK Advertising Expenditure Data Table
| MEDIUM | Q2 2026 | Q4 2026 | FY 2026 | Percentage | FY 2027 |
| Yr-on-yr % change | Yr-on-yr % change | Yr-on-yr % change | Point (pp) forecast diff vs July | Yr-on-yr % change | |
| Cinema | 24.5% | 8.6% | 6.9% | +4.8pp | 3.4% |
| Direct Mail | 4.5% | 1.8% | 4.1% | +1.2pp | 0.2% |
| Other Online Display* | -20.7% | -25.4% | -17.7% | +2.0pp | -26.0% |
| Online Classified | 4.4% | 1.6% | 3.2% | +4.1pp | 1.1% |
| Out of Home | 12.7% | 7.5% | 10.8% | +3.1pp | 3.5% |
| of which digital | 14.6% | 9.5% | 12.9% | +3.8pp | 4.3% |
| Published Media | -4.1% | -3.5% | -4.2% | -1.2pp | -0.6% |
| Magazine Brands | -3.4% | -5.2% | -4.6% | -1.4pp | -0.4% |
| of which online | 1.3% | -3.8% | -0.3% | -0.6pp | 1.6% |
| National News Brands | -0.7% | -2.1% | -2.1% | -0.5pp | -1.5% |
| of which online | 0.4% | -0.4% | -0.2% | -1.0pp | 0.8% |
| Regional News Brands | -10.3% | -4.4% | -7.3% | -2.5pp | 0.8% |
| of which online | -13.2% | -4.6% | -8.7% | -4.3pp | 3.2% |
| Radio | -4.4% | -1.3% | -0.6% | -3.9pp | -0.4% |
| of which online | 3.2% | 4.7% | 9.1% | -3.5pp | 4.2% |
| Retail Media | 31.2% | 16.2% | 23.0% | +7.2pp | 13.0% |
| Search | 9.3% | 7.8% | 9.1% | +0.6pp | 6.6% |
| Social Media | 22.2% | 18.5% | 20.7% | +4.2pp | 13.3% |
| TV | 2.6% | 1.6% | 0.9% | -2.8pp | 1.7% |
| of which addressable | 12.7% | 15.1% | 14.7% | +1.2pp | 10.9% |
| ALL MEDIA TOTAL | 11.0% | 8.2% | 9.9% | +1.8pp | 6.5% |
* Excludes display revenues from magazine brands, news brands, radio, retail media, social media and TV. Includes audio, gaming, video outstream, display embedded formats, native advertising and section take-overs.
Source: AA/WARC Expenditure Report, October 2026. Figures extracted strictly from AAWARC Q2 2026 dataset.
Next steps
The Advertising Association and WARC continue to work closely with representative industry bodies to provide a dataset that reflects a deep understanding of the dynamic advertising and media landscape. This latest dataset follows a new breakdown of the figures which was first introduced in April 2026 following consultation with stakeholders.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Advertising Association
Matt Bourn, Director of Communications: Matt.Bourn@adassoc.org.uk
Maddie Brooks, Senior Communications Executive: Maddie.Brooks@adassoc.org.uk
WARC
Amanda Benfell, Head of PR & Press: amanda.benfell@warc.com
About the Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report
The Advertising Association/WARC quarterly Expenditure Report is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in the UK. Impartial and independent of any media channel or agency affiliation, it is the only source of historical quarterly ad spend data and forecasts for the different media for the coming eight quarters.
About the Advertising Association
The Advertising Association promotes the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, businesses, and the economy. Responsible businesses understand that there is little point in an advertisement that people cannot trust. That’s why, over 50 years ago, the Advertising Association led UK advertising towards a system of independent self-regulation which has since been adopted around the world. There are nearly thirty members including advertisers, agencies, media owners, production and tech companies which represent distinct but connected parts of the UK advertising ecosystem. Through the Advertising Association they come together with a single voice when speaking to policymakers and influencers.
About WARC – The global authority on marketing effectiveness
For over 40 years WARC has been powering the marketing segment by providing rigorous and unbiased evidence, expertise and guidance to make marketers more effective. WARC is part of LIONS, part of Informa PLC.
