GroupM study: Media budgets growth by 17% in 2021, compared to 2020

The GroupM This Year, Next Year 2021 report announces record increases for the global media market. 2021 brought up a 21% growth, powered mainly by digital advertising which went up by over 29%.

By Romanita Oprea

Numbers are remarkably high, and data shows that nowadays economic environment is better than ever for the media industry. The global market growth is expected to continue through 2022, but at a slower pace, of around 10%.

„2021 was also the best year in history for the Romanian market, as the budgets have surpassed for the first time 600 million Euro, after a 17% growth compared to the previous year. With a general market value of 629 million Euro in 2021, we succeeded surpassing the 600 million Euro level we reached in 2008. A positive macroeconomic evolution in 2022, supported by an increase in household consumption, will enable the media market to keep growing for the next year, at a level we estimate will be by 12%, compared to 2021.”, said Mihai Vișan, Head of Trading GroupM

The most important global media data, from the This Year, Next Year 2021 report:

The digital market had a remarkable over 29% growth this year and will continue to develop during 2022, for which we estimate a 14.3% growth.
During 2020, television went down by 10.3%, but for the ending of 2021 a 7.6% growth is awaited. It is interesting to notice how, for the next 5 years, the TV market growth will be almost exclusively supported by Connected TV – underdeveloped in Romania for the time being – which is expected to double its value on the global market, during 2021-2026.
After going down in 2020, the estimated growth for the Audio and Outdoor are 14% respectively 16%, in 2021. Regarding 2022, we foresee a growth of 7.2% for Audio and 15.3% for Outdoor. Digital streaming and podcasts are ever-growing, essential instruments that will keep audio afloat.
Newspapers have only recovered 2%, after the 28.2% downfall of last year. Forecasts of 2022 are not very optimistic for this area, as we are waiting for another dropping of 4.7%. Magazines also keep going down, after last year`s major decline. This year they went down another 5.8% and specialists estimate they will lose another 7.3% during 2022.

In Romania, despite the ratings decrease, Television kept getting most of the advertising budgets, and obtained a market share of 57% along with a 14% growth compared to the previous year.

Digital media grew the most, with 28% compared to 2020, and reached this year a 33% share, that is still a long way below the 64% global average market share.

Read the This Year, Next Year report for 2021 here.