Global ad spend creeps up in Q2, says Nielsen

The Middle East and Africa saw the most growth compared to the second quarter last year, with advertising spend up 19.6%. This was followed by Latin America which chalked up an increase of 4.9%.

Spending in Asia Pacific was up 2.9% following “significant” increases in the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong. North American ad spend was up 2.4% despite a 2% drop in Canada.

In Europe, despite increased spending in the UK, Turkey and Norway, the region was the only one in the world that saw a decrease, which totalled 3.2%.

Nielsen added that June saw the most growth during the quarter and that total global ad spend for the first half of 2012 stood at $266bn.