(2 rânduri libere, 11p)


Studies and Scientific Researches. Economics Edition, No 25, 2017 http://sceco.ub.ro 

113 
 

 

THE ADVERTISING MARKET OF EUROPEAN UNION 

COUNTRIES – THE EVOLUTION IN RECENT YEARS 
 

Laura Cătălina Ţimiraş 
 Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau 

timiras.laura@ub.ro  

 

 
Abstract 
This paper seeks to highlight how the EU advertising market has evolved in recent years, as well 

as the link between the macroeconomic outcomes of the analyzed countries and the size of this 

market. According to the analyzed statistical data provided by Eurostat in recent years for which 

we have data, the advertising market (assessed by the Turnover or gross premiums written 

indicator) registered an upward trend in the EU, with the old EU members accounting about 

90% of the total market, and the new member states just over 10%. The number of market 

operators also increased, with about 75% of them operating at the level of the old EU members. 

The size of the advertising markets at the level of the analyzed countries is closely linked to the 

recorded macroeconomic outcomes, with a direct and strong link between the gross premiums 

written and the Gross domestic product. The link has been studied both across EU countries and 

separately for the two categories of old states (EU - 15) and new EU members. 

 
Keywords 
advertising market; turnover or gross premiums written; number of enterprises; gross domestic 

product; EU member states 

 
JEL Classification 
M31, M37, C10 

 

 

 

Highlights on the size of the global advertising market 
The emergence and development of advertising is strictly related to market 

developments, increased competition, increased and diversified consumer demands. 

Thus, in the context of general economic development, the advertising market has 

evolved to reach impressive dimensions. For example, in 2015, according to Statista, 

Inc. (2017), the global advertising market expressed in global advertising spending 

amounted 513.56 billion US Dollars, with an ascending trend, from 412.54 billion US 

Dollars in 2010 (which represents an annual average increase of about 4.5%). 

According to estimates for the coming years (eMarketer, 2016), the advertising market 

will continue the upward trend, with total advertising spending for 2020 being valued 

at over 720 billion US Dollars. 

The largest advertising markets in the world, according to estimates for 2016 (Statista, 

Inc., 2017) are: United States, China, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, South 

Korea, France, Australia and Canada, global ad market being estimated at 537 billion 

US dollars. (Table 1) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Țimiraș 

114 
 

Table 1. World's largest advertising markets in 2016 

 

Country 

Advertising 

expenditure for 

2016– estimated 

values (billion U.S.) 

 Country 

Advertising 

expenditure for 

2016– estimated 

values (billion U.S.) 

1. United States 190.84  6. Brazil 13.20 

2. China 80.24  7. South Korea 11.56 

3. Japan 37.68  8. France 11.46 

4. United Kingdom 26.10  9. Australia 11.06 

5. Germany 22.07  10. Canada 9.05 

Source: Statista, Inc. (2017) 

 
In fact, the global advertising market is highly concentrated; the top 10 countries in the 

world (3 of which belong to the EU), accounting for 77% of the world's advertising 

market, with the rest of the countries accounting for only 23%. (Figure 1) 

 
Figure 1. The structure of the global advertising market by country in 2016 (% 

in global advertising spending – estimated values) 
Source: personal processing from Statista, Inc. (2017) 

 
Advertising expenditure are huge both at macroeconomic level (as shown in the table 

above) and at micro level for some of the big corporations. For example, in 2016, brands 

with the largest allocated advertising budgets in the world are shown in Table 2, their 

expenditure exceeding the value of 8 billion US dollars. 

 
Table 2. Top of the largest advertising budgets in the world in 2016 

 

Brand 

Advertising 

budget for 2016 

(billion U.S.) 

 Brand 

Advertising 

budget for 2016 

(billion U.S.) 

Pampers 8.3  Lexus 3.6 

Gillette 8.3  Toyota 3.6 

L’Oreal 8.2  Samsung 3.3 

Chevrolet 5.1  NIKE 3.2 

Louis Vuitton 4.4  Google 3.2 

Ford  4.3  American Express 3.1 

Coca-Cola 4.0  T-Mobile 2.9 

Amazon 3.8  Nissan 2.8 

Sony 3.7  Verizon 2.7 

AT&T 3.6  Chase 2.7 

Sursa: Wadlow, T. (2016), Top 20 companies with the biggest advertising budget, Business Review Europe 

United States, 

35.5%

China, 

14.9%

Japan, 7.0%

United Kingdom, 

4.9%Germany,

4.1%
Brazil,

2.5%
South Korea,

2.2%

France,

2.1%

Australia,

2.1%

Canada,

1.7%

Other countries, 

23.0%

http://www.businessrevieweurope.eu/authors/102/Tom-Wadlow


THE ADVERTISING MARKET OF EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES – THE EVOLUTION IN RECENT YEARS 

115 
 

Methodological aspects 
The aim of this paper is to highlight the evolution of the advertising market in the EU 

countries in recent years and also to analyze the link between the macroeconomic 

outcomes and the size of this market. The study is based on official statistical data, 

using, for their analysis, indicators for time series and for studying the links between 

variables. 

 

The size and dynamics of the EU-wide advertising market 
For the assessment of the size and dynamics of the advertising market, was used data 

regarding turnover or gross premiums written as well as number of enterprises, 

respectively number of people employed in advertising. The analysis was based on the 

latest official data provided by Eurostat. 

The EU-wide advertising market, expressed by the turnover or gross premiums written 

indicator, reached € 153 billion in 2015 (up 6.4% from 2011) of which almost 90% was 

held by the old states EU (EU-15), while the new member states (Bulgaria, Czech 

Republic, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, Latvia, 

Lithuania, Croatia, Estonia) had just over 10%. In 2014 there were almost 264.000 

operators on this market (up by about 10% over 2011) and more than 967.000 workers 

in the field. Of the total operators registered in 2014, about 75% belonged to the old 

EU states (EU-15). (Table 3 and Figure 2) 

 
Table 3. Evolution of the EU-wide advertising market, respectively old and new 

member states in terms of turnover or gross premiums written, number of 

enterprises and number of persons employed 

 

Country 

groups 

Turnover or gross 

premiums written 

(millions of €.) 

Number of enterprises 

(enterprises) 

Number of persons 

employed 

(persons) 

2011 2015 

(+
/-

 i
n
 %

 i
n
 2

0
1
5
 

c
o
m

p
a
re

d
 t

o
 2

0
1
1

 

2011 2014 

(+
/-

 i
n
 %

 i
n
 2

0
1
4
 

c
o
m

p
a
re

d
 t

o
 2

0
1
1

 

2011 2015 
(+

/-
 i

n
 %

 i
n
 2

0
1
5
 

c
o
m

p
a
re

d
 t

o
 2

0
1
1

 

The EU – 

15 
128453.6 136871.9 6.6 177161 196158 10.7 771326 786534 2.0 

The new 

member 

states of 

the UE 

15734.8 16609.9 5.6 63719 67708 6.3 169574 180638 6.5 

European 

Union 

(28 

countries) 

144188.4 153481.8 6.4 240880 263866 9.5 940900 967172 2.8 

Source: personal processing from Eurostat (2017) 

 
By comparing the results obtained (turnover or gross premiums written) and the 

allocated resources (number of persons employed) there is a gap between the old and 

the new EU members. Thus, in the year 2015, 81.3% of the total number of employees 

in the EU advertising made 89.2% of the total turnover or gross premiums written, 

while 18.7% of them achieved only 10.8% of the total turnover or gross premiums 

written (indicators for new members). (Figure 2) 



Țimiraș 

116 
 

 
 

Figure 2. Structure of turnover or gross premiums written, number of 

enterprises and number of employed persons in advertising for old and new EU 

members (%) 
Source: personal processing from Eurostat (2017) 

 
Referring to the size of the advertising market from the perspective of turnover or gross 

premiums written, by EU countries, the United Kingdom ranks first with a value of 

nearly 38 billion euros, followed by other old Member States, such as Germany, France, 

Spain, Italy etc., most of the new EU members being at the end of the ranking from this 

point of view. (Figure 3) 

 

 
 

Figure 3. Turnover or gross premiums written made from advertising in the EU-

28 countries in 2015 (millions of €) 
Source: Eurostat (2017) 

*2014 data 

 
In dynamics, the period 2010-2015 was marked by different developments from one 

country to the other, with the most spectacular increases (more than 60%) recorded in 

Estonia, Ireland (where, due to the lack of available official data, the dynamics was 

determined for the 2010-2014 period) and the United Kingdom. Greece and Portugal 

89.2
74.3 81.3

10.8
25.7 18.7

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Turnover or gross

premiums written in 2015

Number of enterprises in

2014

Number of persons

employed in 2015

The EU – 15 (the old states) The new member states of the UE

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THE ADVERTISING MARKET OF EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES – THE EVOLUTION IN RECENT YEARS 

117 
 

show the largest decreases in this market (over 40% for Greece and over 30% for 

Portugal). (Figure 4) 

 

 

Figure 4. Percentage change in turnover or gross premiums written from 

advertising in EU-28 countries in 2015 compared to 2010 (+/- in% as compared 

to 2010) 
Source: personal processing from Eurostat (2017) 

* 2014 compared to 2010 

** 2015 compared to 2011 

Note: no data for Malta 

 
In terms of number of enterprises, the hierarchy of EU countries is different in 2014, 

the first places being occupied by Netherlands, followed by Germany, both with over 

30.000 operators, Spain and France with more than 25.000 operators. (Figure 5) 

 

 
 

Figure 5. Number of enterprises in advertising in EU-28 countries in 2014 
Source: Eurostat (2017) 

Note: no data for Malta 

 

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Țimiraș 

118 
 

In most EU countries, there is an increase in the number of enterprises in advertising, 

with the largest increases being recorded in Lithuania and Ireland, while Greece and 

Portugal have also experienced the largest decreases. (Figure 6) 

 

 
 

Figure 6. Percentage change in number of enterprises in advertising in EU-28 

countries in 2014 compared to 2010 (%) 
 Source: personal processing from Eurostat (2017) 

Note: no data for Malta 

 

The link between the macroeconomic outcomes and the size of the 

advertising market at EU level in 2015 
There is a close link between the level of EU macroeconomic outcomes and the size of 

the advertising market. Thus, studying the correlation between the Gross domestic 

product and the gross premiums written from the advertising activity carried out by the 

28 EU states, we can see that there is a direct and strong link between them, the value 

of the correlation coefficient r being 0.9367. 

Also, applying the significance test t we obtain a calculated value t = 13.64, which for 

a significance level α = 0.0001 and 26 degrees of freedom attests a significant 

correlation coefficient (the corresponding theoretical value t is 4.587). (Figure 7 and 

Table 4) 

 

 
Figure 7. Link between Gross domestic product and Turnover or gross premium 

writing in advertising in EU-28 countries in 2015 
Source: personal processing from Eurostat (2017) 

Note: for Ireland has been used turnover or gross premiums written for 2014 

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Y = 0.01x + 230.112

R2 = 0.8774

0

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0 1000000 2000000 3000000 4000000

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THE ADVERTISING MARKET OF EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES – THE EVOLUTION IN RECENT YEARS 

119 
 

 
Similarly, studying the link between Gross domestic product and the gross premiums 

written from advertising activity by category of countries - the old and the new EU 

member states, we can see in both cases the manifestation of direct and strong links, for 

a level of significance with the level of 0.0001. In comparison, there is a stronger link 

between the two variables for the new EU member states (correlation coefficient r 

calculated for the new EU member states with the value of 0.9791 compared to 0.9197 

corresponding to the EU - 15 countries). (Figure 8 and Table 4) 

 

EU – 15 
 

New EU Member States 

 

Figure 8. Relationship between Gross domestic product and turnover or Gross 

premiums written in advertising by categories of countries - old and new EU 

members in 2015 
Source: personal processing from Eurostat (2017) 

Note: for Ireland has been used turnover or gross premiums written for 2014 

 
Table 4. Link between Gross domestic product and Turnover or gross premium 

writing made from advertising in EU countries in 2015 

 

Countries 

R
e
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io
n

 

e
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u
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European 

Union (EU 

– 28) 

Y = 0.01x 

+ 230.112 
0.8774 0.9367 13.641 26 0.0001 4.587 

EU - 15 
Y = 0.01x 

+ 67.592 
0.8458 0.9197 8.444 13 0.0001 5.513 

New EU 

member 

states 

Y = 

0.0153x - 

116.944 

0.9586 0.9791 15.959 11 0.0001 5.921 

Source: personal processing from Eurostat (2017) 

Note: for Ireland has been used turnover or gross premiums written for 2014 

 
It is noted from the above table that the value of the regression coefficient has the same 

value at the level of equations determined for EU-28 and EU-15 (0.01) and was 0.0153 

for the new EU member states. These values show that both at the EU-28 and at the 

EU-15 levels, on average, there is an increase of 1 billion Euro in Gross domestic 

Y = 0.01x + 67.592

R2 = 0.8458

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Y = 0.0153x - 116.944

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5
0

0
0
0

3
0
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GDP (Millions of Euros)



Țimiraș 

120 
 

product, related to an increase of 10 million Euro in Turnover or gross premium writing 

made from advertising; and, also, at the new EU member states level, related to an 

increase of 15,3 million Euro in Turnover or gross premium writing made from 

advertising. 

 

Conclusions 
This paper has attempted to capture both the evolution of the EU-wide advertising 

market beyond 2010 and the link between the macroeconomic outcomes of the member 

states and their level of economic development. 

Thus, the EU advertising market accounted for over € 153 billion in terms of turnover 

or gross premiums written in 2015, with almost 90% owned by the old EU countries. 

During the period 2011-2015, the indicator showed an upward trend, but this was also 

not the case for individual states (some of them declining). As far as the number of 

enterprisers in advertising is concerned, there were almost 244.000 organizations in the 

community space in 2014, of which almost 75% belonged to the old member states. 

There is a close link to the level of community space between the macroeconomic 

outcomes such as the Gross domestic product and the size of the advertising market 

assessed based on the Turnover or gross premiums written indicator, with higher 

macroeconomic outcomes being associated with larger advertising markets. 

 

 

References  
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Bacau, Editura Alma Mater 

Nichifor, B. (2014), Global Advertising Market – The Dynamics Of The Last Decade, 

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available at http://sceco.ub.ro/index.php/SCECO/issue/view/12 

Sincich, T. (1989), Business Statistics by Example. Third Edition, Dellen Publishing 

Company 

Wadlow, T. (2016), Top 20 companies with the biggest advertising budget, Business 

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Delloite (2016), The economic contribution of advertising in Europe. A report for the 

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https://www.iqads.ro/articol/37572/publicitatea-stimuleaza-cresterea-

economica-in-uniunea-europeana 

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Eurostat (2017), http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu. 

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http://ideas.repec.org/s/bac/fsecub.html
http://sceco.ub.ro/index.php/SCECO/issue/view/12
http://www.businessrevieweurope.eu/authors/102/Tom-Wadlow
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/
https://www.statista.com/