UK advertising and marketing sector achieves £15 billion in exports

The Advertising Association has revealed that the UK advertising and marketing sector achieved exports of £15 billion in 2021.

The figure represents 32.5% increase in year-on-year growth as the sector rebounded strongly from the Covid-19 pandemic, and is the fastest rate of growth for the industry since tracking of the industry’s exports (based on ONS data) began in 2018.

Export levels achieved by the sector bring the advertising industry back in line with pre-Covid projections. Recovery also ensures the UK remains the world’s second largest exporter of advertising and marketing services, behind the USA.

The US remains the largest recipient of UK exports, receiving £3.9 billion worth of advertising and market research services – a value that has more than tripled since 2020. This is followed by Germany (£1.36 billion) and then Ireland in third place (£894 million). The top 10 recipients of UK advertising are largely EU countries with a new entry from Australia at 7^th receiving exports worth £538 million.

Secretary of State for the Department of Business and Trade (DBT), Kemi Badenoch, has commended the sector’s strong performancel; she commented:

“The advertising industry is one of the UK’s strongest exports and these record figures provide a great boost as we aim to sell £1 trillion of goods and services a year to the world by the end of the decade. I look forward to working closely with the industry to help businesses expand into new markets and help drive further economic growth in the years ahead.”

Stephen Woodford, CEO, Advertising Association, said:

“It is terrific to see such strong growth figures from the UK’s world-leading advertising and marketing services, showing the innovative way our industry has responded to the challenges posed by the pandemic. We prepare now to support the next decade of UK advertising growth, through our productive partnership between the industry, through the UK Advertising Exports Group, and the Department for Business and Trade. As the UK Government sets out its ambitions to become a science and technological superpower, we should not forget the UK is already a creative superpower and our recent success at SXSW demonstrates how our industry can continue to play a key part in UK export growth.”

The release of export figures by industry watcher, Credos, follows the UK Advertising Exports Group joining the DBT on its biggest ever trade mission to the SXSW technology and media conference in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.