• The global advertising spend outlook is positive, but growth is projected to slow to 5.0% in 2026 and 5.5% in 2027, following a stronger than expected 2025 at 5.8%. The slowdown is likely informed by economic uncertainty tied to geopolitical tensions. However, ad spend growth is still projected to outpace economic growth, as the International Monetary Fund projects global GDP growth at 3.1% in 2026.^[1]
• Digital continues to be the primary growth driver across all 56 markets analysed in the forecast, representing a 69% share of spend, with fastest growing areas – Retail media, CTV and video, social and Digital OOH. Confidence inspired by the growth reported by platforms such as Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta is counterbalancing the caution advertisers are exercising due to economic uncertainty.
• Algorithm-based precision advertising remains a strong trend with a predicted 75% of ad spend forecast to be algorithm driven by 2028.

Advertising spend is forecast to grow by 5.0% globally in 2026, according to the latest dentsu Global Ad Spend Forecasts report, a midyear update examining major shifts in ad spend by geography and by media channel across 56 markets. While this represents a slowdown following a stronger than expected 2025 at 5.8% growth, the increase in global ad spend is still poised to outpace economic growth, which is currently being forecast at 3.1% in 2026 by the International Monetary Fund. Significantly, worldwide advertising spend is forecast to reach $1.06 Trillion in 2026, having surpassed the $1 trillion mark in 2025 - a year faster than previously predicted.

Will Swayne, Global Practice President – Media & Integrated Solutions, dentsu said: “Analysing projected ad spend trends allows marketers to balance their investments taking into account a dual focus: a snapshot of the current situation that is informing current sentiment across platforms and advertisers, and the longer-term forces that are reshaping how media connects with consumers. Looking at the forecast through the former lens, it’s easy to find a correlation between the projected slowdown in growth and the current economic uncertainty tied to emerging geopolitical tensions. Moving to the latter, our forecasts confirm the rising importance of algorithms in transforming media strategies, as algorithmically enabled ad spend (where algorithms are significantly involved in the buying decision) is now expected to reach 75% of total ad spend by 2028.”

Major events in 2026 - FIFA Football World Cup, Winter Olympic Games and national elections (e.g., US midterms) will also act as a catalyst for growth.

Looking at the media breakdown, digital continues to power ahead. It continues to be the primary growth driver across all 56 markets, representing a 69% share of spend, with fastest growing areas – Retail media, CTV and video, social and Digital OOH. Search growth however moderates to 3.4% in 2026 as the search landscape evolves with AI, retail and social search increasingly competing with traditional search, requiring a total search strategy. Nonetheless, will continue to be a key performance channel for advertisers.

Connected TV accelerates in 2026 driven by premium brand-safe content, sports rights and the expansion of ad supported subscription models. Total Video grows 5.1% in 2026 as Connected TV rises by 11.5% and digital video by 8.7%, partially offsetting the 0.0% flat growth in linear TV. “Our recently published Brand Reset report, an industry-first framework that quantifies how next-gen video platforms, formats and types of attention deliver real business outcomes, unveiled that digital video (including short-form formats) delivers multi-year brand building effects, and that Connected TV has the power to build brands on par with Linear TV” – Will Swayne commented. “What we are seeing in the forecast suggests that marketers are starting to embrace the new video marketplace to reap these benefits.”

Retail media sees continued double digit growth 12.3% in 2026 and 11.4% in 2027.  It is one of the fastest growing areas of digital, signalling a major shift towards ‘commerce-led media.’

Key categories leading spend growth in 2026 are Gov., Social, Political, Org. 12.8%, Technology 12.5%, Beverages 10.9% and Media & Entertainment 6.4%, confirming the impact that sports events, elections, and the development of AI solutions are generating for the media ecosystem across the board.

From a regional perspective, Americas ad spend is forecast to grow by 4.8% in 2026; EMEA by 3.6%; APAC by 5.9%.

^[1] World Economic Growth Projection (International Monetary Fund).