weCAN Ranking 2017: Ad Markets in CEE Are Getting Stronger

Last year, we concluded that the most powerful advertising markets in the region were the Visegrad countries with their solid online segment and the South-Eastern-European states with their extraordinarily strong TV market. But how can we measure the performance of advertising markets and what are the main developments in the CEE region compared to last year?

The weCAN Ranking developed by the professionals of weCAN is an index that shows the percentage of the ad spending per capita within a country’s nominal GDP. We calculate both baseline data (GDP per capita and ad spending per capita) using the number of population older than 14 to ensure that the basis of the calculation only includes advertising target groups with independent purchasing power. The weCAN Ranking reveals whether the advertising market as an economic sector is stronger or weaker than what the overall economic performance of a country would suggest.

Findings of the weCAN Ranking 2017

Last year’s statement related to the strongest countries of the list still rings true, that is, the top countries are the Visegrad countries with developed digital market and the Balkan countries with strong TV markets. At the rear of the list, you can find the Baltic states, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania.

The percentage value of the weCAN Ranking grew in the majority of the countries by a few thousandths compared to last year. This means that the ad industry grew more dynamically in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine and Russia than the overall performance of the local economy.

Besides the Czech market (which weCAN Ranking value grew also due to methodological reasons) Ukraine (0.08%), Russia (0.04%) and Lithuania showed the most significant signs of increase.

Following the recession that had been a result of the Western sanctions adopted due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the economic performance of Russia has started to increase in 2016, and the GDP has increased by 1.5% in Ukraine as well, for the first time since the beginning of the crisis. However, the ad industry strengthened more radically in both countries compared to these figures. Russian advertising spending grew by 11% and the Ukrainian did by an astonishing 27% compared to 2015, the latter currently being one of the greatest growth rates in the region. This is reflected in their newly acquired positions in the ranking: Russia has advanced 3 places and Ukraine 5 places in just one year.

If you want to learn more about the weCAN Ranking 2017, download the latest CANnual Report from here!

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