The first quarter of 2012 saw global advertising growing just 1.9% to $76.6bn with trends fluctuating across the regions, as quarterly spending dropped in Europe, marginally increased in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Asian-Pacific, and remained flat in North America.

Latin America was the star performer for the first quarter with ad spend growth of 11.9% while spending in the Middle East and Africa continued to recover from the spending decline of early 2012, as advertising spend grew 2.9% during Q1.

Growth in ad expenditures steadily continued in Asia-Pacific where spending grew 5.8% in the first quarter with China, Indonesia and Philippines, seeing around 20% in growth. Japan was the only country where ad spend decreased (down 1.1%).

Commenting on Europe where spending dropped by 4.4%, the report noted: “In looking at Europe, it’s clear that ad spend is still declining under the weight of the region’s economic problems. It seems unlikely that the region will recover from these challenges in the short term.”