European marketing activity accelerates

The GMI rose to 53.7 in March – the second consecutive monthly increase since the historic low of 51.7 in December of last year – indicating that activity in the global marketing sector is continuing to increase. 

Europe continues to record the most activity; the headline European index has risen to 59.7, which is a sixth consecutive monthly increase. Meanwhile the headline index for the Asia Pacific region rose to 50.5, showing effectively stagnant marketing activity; and while the headline index in the Americas rose slightly to 49.9, this still indicates a decline in marketing activity in the region. 

Similarly, global marketing budgets appear to have risen for the first time following six months of decline: the Global Marketing Budgets index recorded an increase of 1.3 points to 51.1 from the previous month. In Europe this index has risen to 57.1. Meanwhile budgets in Asia Pacific and the Americas continue to fall. 

The GMI is calculated by taking the percentage of respondents reporting that activity has risen and adding it to one half of the percentage reporting that activity hasn't changed. The greater the distance the index is from the amount that would indicate no change ( 50 points), the greater the rate of change indicated.