Australia lags behind ad spend recovery as 2021 set to deliver growth

Australia’s advertising spend recovery lagged behind the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada in the first quarter of 2021, as marketing in those four markets returned to pre-COVID-19 numbers.

Ad spend between January and March across the five comparable markets rose 4 per cent on the first quarter of 2020 and 1 per cent on the 2019 first quarter, according Standard Media Index, which tracks advertising spend from media agencies, but does not account for direct spend.