The global advertising market is forecast to grow 4.7 percent in 2018, its most robust pace since 2011, reports marketing intelligence firm WARC, in its January Global Ad Trends report. The year’s expected growth will be fueled by the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Russia World Cup, and is projected to reach $572 billion in total spending.

The expected growth puts it ahead of 2017, which registered a three percent increase at $546 billion. Last year represented a slowdown from 2016’s 3.8 percent growth, primarily due to weaker movement in the U.S. market, which slipped from 8.5 percent in 2016 to 3.3 percent in 2017. Growth in 2017 was also sluggish in Western Europe, at 0.2 percent; and in Asia-Pacific, where China’s 4.7 percent growth was dampened by weak Japanese ad spending. 2017’s fastest growing regions were Central and Eastern Europe, at 14.5 percent, and Latin America, up 9.4 percent; while the Middle East and Africa reported a second year of declines, down 10.5 percent.

Looking ahead, WARC predicts positive results in all regions for 2018. It forecasts five percent growth for North America, six percent growth for Asia-Pacific and 2.6 percent growth in Western Europe. And while growth is expected to slow in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America, it should remain strong at 8.4 percent and seven percent, respectively.

The mobile advertising channel is driving much of the ad spending growth. In WARC’s data, it was the only channel to grow last year, rising to the No. 2 spot in global ad spending, at 20.6 percent ($112 billion). It is forecast to increase 32 percent in 2018 to $149 billion. Television remains the largest advertising channel, at 36.5 percent of spending in 2017. WARC notes that traditional media channels captured 61 percent of global advertising spending last year.

"Mobile is now a key driver of global growth, and was the only channel to gain share of spend in 2017—it now accounts for one in five ad dollars worldwide," says James McDonald, data editor at WARC and author of the research. "Nevertheless, traditional media still attract the majority of global ad investment, and TV and out of home will be among the main benefactors of increased brand and political campaign spending this year.”