Ireland’s advertising market is due to grow by 9.7 per cent this year, outperforming most European markets as advertisers show more confidence in the economy, WPP Media Ireland claims. The ‘Ireland: This Year, Next Year’ report expects total media spend to reach €1.83 billion in 2026 with digital activity accounting for as much as 68 per cent of spend.
The upward trend follows on from a strong 2025 which saw spend grow by 8.2 per cent to €1.68bn. “Overall, 2025 was a good year for advertising in Ireland, with both demand and supply keeping good pace with each other across most media meaning stable pricing and healthy ROI for advertisers,” James Heriot, head of trading, WPP Media Ireland, said.
“From a market perspective we now predict a strong 9.7 per cent expansion in 2026, reflective of a more confident approach among clients to the new communications landscape, the summer bump of the Fifa World Cup and the likely arrival of at least one of the big streamers to market,” Heriot added. Digital revenue continues to be the main engine for growth.
OOH will be up by around six per cent in 2026
The agency predicts that overall digital investment will be up by 14.6 per cent to €1.24bn. Of this, €600m will be allocated to search-related ads while the remaining €600m will be non-search. TV, the second-largest media channel, will grow modestly by around 1.9 per cent to €256m this year. Audio is likely to be flat at €157m, up 0.2 per cent from €156m.
WPP Media is forecasting that investment in OOH will be up by around six per cent in 2026 to around €94m while both newspaper and magazine advertising will decline by around 7.3 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively to €64m and €7m. Retail media is due to continue its upward trajectory in 2026 with growth of around 32 per cent this year to €32m.
Ballooning
Retail media growth has accelerated to more than double last year, with the long-awaited arrival of Amazon.ie on the scene radically altering the playing field. Consequently, there has been a ballooning advertiser investment previously directed to UK and a new drive and focus from the local supermarkets and other select retailers to bring their own offerings online.
Growth over the next five years will remain well ahead of market at just under 25 per cent.
