In This Year, Next Year, its latest media and marketing report the media agency reports that it has slightly downgraded its global ad expenditure forecast for 2016 from 4.5% growth to 4% growth.

The report says that while there has been a small upward revision to the US, and there has been recovery in Russia and Argentina, China and Brazil have been revised down.

China’s growth has been reduced from 9.1% to 6.6% as the slowdown in fixed investment and profits affects consumer demand. It puts the US as overtaking China as the leading contributor of ad growth this year .

The Brazil downgrade from 7% to 1% is a result of recent political turmoil that depressed confidence and hopes of an Olympic uplift.

India remains the fastest-growing larger ad economy at a forecast annual 14%-15% increase.  Its current trajectory puts it on track to become the tenth $10-billion-dollar-plus ad market in 2018.

The report also states: "At the time of writing in mid-July, there remained no tangible evidence of a ‘Brexit effect’ either in macro indicators or ad budgeting decisions. We concur with the Bank of England’s assessment that ‘early indications from surveys and from contacts of the Bank’s Agents suggest that some businesses are beginning to delay investment projects and postpone investment decisions'. Our present forecast for UK advertising depends mostly on structural growth in digital media."