APAC to overtake North America as world’s biggest digital ad market

APAC — 2016 will see Asia Pacific overtake North America as the world’s biggest market for digital advertising spend for the first time, according to new research. 

Digital ad spend

The forecast, from research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics, predicts an 18.2% rise in digital ad spend in Asia Pacific, to a total spend of $59.7bn. North America is predicted to rise by 9.6% to $59.5bn.  

Asia Pacific’s rise is driven primarily by China, which is predicted to grow by 25.1% to $22.4bn this year. China is the second biggest country for digital spend, behind the US. Together the two countries will account for 44% of global digital ad spend this year. 

Asia Pacific also has the fourth largest (Japan) and sixth largest (Korea) digital markets, meaning it accounts for half of the six biggest digital markets globally. Strategy Analytics forecasts that Asia Pacific’s digital ad market will be 33% bigger than North America’s by 2021. 

“Advertising is about ‘eyeballs’ and the sheer scale of the Chinese market, along with India and Indonesia, is why Asia Pacific will overtake North America this year, despite underlying economic weakness in some economies," said Michael Goodman, Strategy Analytics’ digital media director. "Millions just can’t compete with billions.”

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