Media price inflation will grow over the next two years, according to WFA

Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson
Televisión antigua sobre fondo de colores

The media price inflation It will be one of the elements that mark the development of the advertising industry over the next two years. Most large markets will see price increases greater than those recorded in 2024, according to recent research from World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).

In the latest edition of its WFA Outlook report, which includes predictions for 2025 and 2026. It is based on media price forecasts provided voluntarily by 9 participants (Cortex Media, Dentsu, Ebiquity, Havas, Magna, MediaSense, Omnicom MediaGroup , Publicis Media, the7stars Ltd), spanning 14 media channels in 41 markets.

Price forecasts have been revised upwards for the remainder of this year

the advertiser organization points out that there has been a rrise in inflation forecasts in the price of the media for this year, going from the 3.1% expected in April to the current 3.3%. As WFA points out in a statement, the increases have occurred in markets such as the United States and Western Europe, which have still been offset by the planned reductions in China and Japan.

By 2025, it is estimated that nine of the top ten global media markets will record a price increases. The increase will be led by the United States, which will go from 2.1% this year to 2.3% next year, and 3.9% in 2026. The analysis indicates that the only exception would be the United Kingdom, but its forecasts for inflation for 2024 have also been revised upwards, and have gone from 2.8% to 3.9% between April and August of this year.

WFA highlights the case of India, whose inflation forecasts for media prices stand at 8% this year, at 9% next year and the figure will reach 9.6% by 2026. Focusing In other markets, China is expected to see inflation of 3.6% in 2025 and 5.4% in 2026; while Japan would go from 1.8% planned for next year to 3.1% the following year.

On the other hand, the organization predicts better evolution for Türkiye and Argentina, whose levels of media price inflation are extremely high. Thus, it expects that over the next two years inflation will decrease from 80% to 60% for the Turkish market and from 200% to 80% for the Argentine market.

Prices by channels

Focusing on the television, WFA’s predictions for the US market showed signs of declining in April, although the most aggressive part of the election campaign is still ahead.
In the United Kingdom, on the other hand, the decline in viewership during the second quarter of the year has skyrocketed media prices.

in retail media, For example, analysis suggests that inflation has moderated slightly by 2024, with the forecast falling from 4.8% to 4.5%. This channel has been one of the channels that has grown the most in recent years in terms of investment and has attracted the interest of advertisers, but it seems to be entering a maturation phase.

The WFA report also points out that media prices will increase by mid to high single digits overall for the various channels in the various markets. Given this scenario, they invite advertisers to plan their campaigns in advance and adjust budgets to maintain the weight of the media in their strategies.