The latest Advertising Expenditure Forecast from Zenith predicts that 10 cities will contribute 11% of all growth in global ad spend between 2016 and 2019. These are, in descending order of contribution: New York, London, Los Angeles, Jakarta, Tokyo, Shanghai, Manila, Beijing, Dallas and Houston. 

Global ad spend is forecast to grow by 13% to reach US$205bn in 2017, with UK spend expected to exceed £17.5bn. London is currently the fourth biggest city for ad spend (behind New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles), contributing £5.2bn in 2017. 

The forecast also reveals that 2017 will be the first year in which more money will be spent on internet advertising than advertising on traditional TV and that that social media advertising expenditure will overtake that of newspaper advertising. 

“Population numbers, productivity and disposable incomes are rising faster in cities than elsewhere,” said Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at Zenith. “So city dwellers are becoming more valuable for advertisers seeking growth. Big cities are now driving growth in ad spend.”