The European Advertising Business Climate Index, published by the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), is based on data collected on a monthly basis from 43,000 companies for the European Commission.

The average business confidence index for the sector across all 28 EU member states rose from -2 to +15 in the six months from January to June 2015. Added to this, demand for advertising services rose from -7 to +14 in the same period, while employment figures jumped from -4 to +5.

There were significant regional differences: advertising and marketing confidence was unsurprisingly lowest in Greece at -33 (though France (-12 ), Estonia (-7 ), Cyprus (-2 ) and Belgium (-2 ) also had negative scores), while it was highest in Slovakia (+45 ). Malta (+40 ), Germany (+38 ) and Spain, Croatia and Lithuania (all +31 ) also displayed high levels of confidence. The UK registered an index of +25.

“It is too early to say that this is a long term trend,” said EACA president, David Patton. “But I am encouraged that this more positive outlook for the advertising industry will help support the media and reflects the growing willingness by advertisers to invest in their brands.”