Advertising spend from media agencies hits high

Australia’s media agencies have spent a record amount on advertising in the first four months of 2025, driven by the federal election spend. The $2,711 million spend, while bettering the equivalent period last year, only just edged past the same pre-election period in 2022.

According to data from Guideline SMI,  total spend was up 4.1% over the same period last year, with a 3.4% increase in April driven by $49 million in federal election spending during the month. Without this election cash, underlying advertising spend for the month of April was down by 3.8% year-on-year.

The previous ad spend record occurred during the lead up to the 2022 election, when $2.7 billion was spent. This figure has increased by $11 million this year, a modest increase of less than half a percentage point.