By Adria Calatayud

U.K. advertising expenditure is forecast to grow 18.2% this year, its strongest annual rise since records began, as the recovery from the hit caused by the coronavirus pandemic gathers pace, according to industry estimates released Thursday.

Spending in advertising is expected to reach 27.7 billion pounds ($38.44 billion) this year from GBP23.46 billion in 2020, the latest expenditure report from the U.K.'s Advertising Association and ad-intelligence firm WARC showed. This compares with a previous forecast of GBP27.0 billion published in April.

The growth-rate forecast for U.K. ad spend has also been revised upward to 18.2% from 15.2% previously, which means that 2021 is expected to surpass the prior expenditure growth high set at 15.9% in 1988, the AA and WARC said. Their data and forecasts go back to 1982.

U.K. ad spend in the second quarter is estimated to have grown 54.7%, following a 0.8% increase during the first quarter, which fell short of the 1.8% rise forecast in April, the AA and WARC said.

For 2022, ad expenditure in the U.K. is forecast to rise 7.7%, taking the market to GBP30 billion, according to the report.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2021 19:15 ET (23:15 GMT)