Annual Social Media Ad Spending has Almost Tripled Since 2018

Over the past decade, social media has grown into an excellent marketing tool providing an alternative way for companies to advertise and reach their target audience and potential customers. Despite being expensive and time-consuming and exposing to negative reviews, brands continue pouring money into social media ads after already spending hundreds of billions on them.

According to a Statista survey, brands spent $73.2bn on social media ads in 2018. Two years later, this figure practically doubled to $132.7bn. Statistics show 2021 saw the biggest year-over-year growth, with revenue surging by 36% or nearly $50bn in a year to $180.9bn. Although 2022 and 2023 saw much lower growth rates, global social media ad spending still hit all-time highs.

Statista expects brands to spend more than $207bn on social media advertising this year, or almost triple the figure reported in 2018. Moreover, total ad spending in the social media advertising market is projected to grow by a CAGR of 4.5% between 2023 and 2027, resulting in a market volume of $207.1bn.

Over 80% of total ad spending this year, or $170.3bn, will be generated through mobile, up from $53.5bn five years ago. Desktop ads will make up the rest with $36.7bn in total ad spending, almost double the figure seen in 2018.

In global comparison, most ad spending, or $72.3bn, will come from the United States. Chinese brands stand close with $71.3bn in total ad spending this year. United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany follow, with $9.7bn, $7.7bn, and $3.8bn, respectively.