The UAE has been named the top GCC country for advertising spending in the first quarter of 2017 with AED1.5 billion ($410 million.
This figure accounts for 46 percent of the total advertising expenditure across the Gulf region, according to TBWA Worldwide, a global advertising network.
State news agency WAM cited its rankings, saying the UAE was followed in the second place by Saudi Arabia with $220 million, Kuwait with $191 million, Qatar with $70 million, Oman with $35 million and Bahrain with $29 million.
UAE newspaper-based ad placements accounted for the lion’s share of the advertising market with 41 percent, spending AED594 million, WAM added.
Outdoor advertising brought in AED389 million followed by radio placements with AED289 million, TV channels with AED124 million and movie advertising with AED41 million.
Regional media advertising was down 22 percent at $1.7 billion from $2.1 billion in the same period in 2016 while there was a 14 percent decline in digital ad spending in the UAE in January, a blip following a 21 percent increase for the first 11 months of 2016 against the same period in 2015.
Digital ad spends have been rising well above the overall ad industry average since 2012, WAM said.
