India adex to rise 8.4% to $21.3 billion in 2025, even as global growth slows to 6%: WPP Media

In its 'Mid-Year Global Advertising Forecast' for 2025, WPP Media has highlighted both resilience and recalibration across global advertising markets amid economic uncertainty and geopolitical tension. While its December 2024 forecast projected 7.7% growth for 2025, it has now revised the projection downward to 6.0% due to disruptions to global trade and continued deglobalization pressures weighing on advertising investment.

"We now expect global advertising revenue to reach $1.08 trillion in 2025, with growth of 6.1% projected for 2026. Our team forecasts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% between 2025 and 2030, lower than the previously projected 6.4% CAGR for 2024–2029," it said.

The agency has also taken the significant step of reclassifying advertising activity under four key categories: Content, Commerce, Location, and Intelligence. "These categories are both more nuanced and more aligned with the reality of investment today and into the future."

Meanwhile, according to the report, India is likely to witness a growth of 8.4% (from earlier projection of 7%) to reach $21.3 billion by the end of 2025.

Key Highlights:

Digital advertising continues to dominate, with pure-play digital expected to account for 73.2% of global ad revenue in 2025 — rising to 81.6% when including digital extensions such as streaming TV, DOOH, and digital print.

Retail media remains one of the fastest-growing segments, projected to reach $169.6 billion globally in 2025 and grow to $252.1 billion by 2030, making up 18% of all ad revenue by decade’s end.

User-generated content is overtaking professional production: In 2025, more than half of content-driven advertising revenue will come from platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Kuaishou, and Instagram Reels. Creator-generated revenue will hit $184.9 billion this year, up 20% from 2024, and is expected to more than double to $376.6 billion by 2030.

TV (including streaming) is projected to grow modestly — up 1.0% to $162.5 billion in 2025, with streaming TV alone contributing $41.8 billion and expected to grow rapidly to $71.9 billion by 2030.

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising remains stable, with digital OOH (DOOH) comprising 41% of the $52 billion OOH market in 2025.

Print advertising continues its decline, forecast to fall -3.1% in 2025 to $45.5 billion. Audio advertising remains flat at $26.5 billion, as growth in streaming is offset by a -1.7% decline in terrestrial formats.

Search (Intelligence) revenue is expected to grow 7.3% to $226.2 billion in 2025.

Top 10 Markets:

All major advertising markets are still expected to grow in 2025, led by strong showings in Brazil (11.9%) and India (8.4%). The U.S. remains the largest advertising market, forecast to grow 5.6% to $404.7 billion, followed by China at $221.6 billion (6.8%) and the UK at $55.0 billion (6.5%).

Japan with a growth rate of 4% to reach $50.5 billion, followed by Germany ( $38.0 billion, +5.5%), France ($30.7 billion, +4.9%), Brazil, Canada ($22.5 billion, +5.1%), India, and Australia ($17.7 billion, +4.1%).

AI and the Future of Media Investment

The report further mentioned that advertisers are increasingly leaning into AI experimentation in production and targeting, seeking cost savings and performance optimization. Economic pressure is accelerating this trend, though opinions vary on the timeline for adoption of tools such as generative AI, virtual assistants, and immersive tech.