The findings, which are based on surveys of media owners and the industry bodies representing them, suggested that digital formats were seeing notable growth, with online radio at 22.2% and digital out-of-home advertising up 17.6%.

In addition, strong growth was seen in retail media ( 17.9%), out-of-home advertising ( 15%), social media ( 17.7%) and addressable television ( 15.5%).

Search accounted for the largest share of the advertising market in the first quarter, with £4.6bn in investment in the quarter, a rise of 9.8% on the same period the previous year.

Further growth was recorded across direct mail ( 7.9%), radio ( 4.2%), digital magazine brands ( 2.9%) and online classifieds ( 0.5%), while total television was at 0.8% growth for the first quarter.

The AA and Warc forecasted that advertising investment for the whole of 2026 would be up 8.2% on 2025 to £50.5bn, with further 5.9% growth expected in 2027 to bring total investment to £53.5bn.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive at Advertising Association, said: “The first quarter of 2026 demonstrated the continuing resilience and rapid evolution of the UK advertising industry.

“With a 9.3% increase in total investment reaching £11.7 billion, it’s clear that advertisers, large and small, are finding value across our entire advertising ecosystem, relying on advertising and marketing services to help them innovate, compete, grow and create jobs.”

Suzy Young, partner relations at Warc Data, said: “The AA/Warc Expenditure Report ensures our investment benchmarks continue to accurately reflect the pace of change in advertising trade.

“The result is greater clarity and transparency around media investment in the UK, to the benefit of both the media industry and the public at large.”