Montenegro remained a small but active advertising market in 2025, with total local media spend estimated at around EUR 14 million, based on agency estimates and available market information, excluding global platforms. The market recorded slight growth compared with the previous year, while its structure remained largely unchanged. Television continued to dominate, OOH maintained a strong second position, online remained relevant, radio stayed stable, and print continued to decline.
The main market pattern was continuity in media buying, while audience behaviour continued to shift towards digital platforms, e-commerce, AI tools, and online video.
TV remained the primary mass-reach channel for national campaigns, especially for broad consumer, retail, telecom, finance, and public-sector communication. OOH maintained its strong position due to high visibility in urban areas and its relevance for retail, services, seasonal campaigns, and tourism-related activity. Radio remained stable but limited in scale, while print continued to lose commercial relevance.
The most important new regulatory development for advertisers came in early 2026, with changes to the VAT treatment of advertising services provided in Montenegro to legal entities headquartered abroad. Since these services are now considered to be consumed in Montenegro, invoices must include Montenegrin VAT. This has created additional cost and planning considerations for cross-border campaigns and is already leading some clients to review or reduce planned budgets.
Another important regulatory change adopted in 2025 was the new Law on Games of Chance, which introduced stricter limits on gambling advertising and reduced the available media space for this category.
Digital behaviour continued to develop faster than locally measurable digital advertising revenue. Internet penetration remained high at 89.7%, confirming that Montenegro is a highly connected market. Google’s rising searches in 2025 point to stronger audience interest in AI tools, with searches such as Gemini and ChatGPT; e-commerce, with Temu; regional news brands; entertainment; and weather-related searches.
For international clients, Montenegro offers a compact and efficient market where national reach can still be built quickly through a focused media mix. The country’s continued progress towards EU accession further strengthens this position by helping the market become more stable and predictable, which supports greater confidence among advertisers and businesses in long-term market development.
