June 13, 2024 – Dubai, UAE: MENA Digital Advertising spend reached $6,25B in 2023, a 13.6% increase over the previous year. This marks an increase of over $700M to the market according to the IAB MENA who released the results of their most recent study at a member only event on June 6th. 

This year’s report, which is available to IAB MENA members, includes detailed breakdowns and regional granularity, including estimates on video, social and search:

–        With $6,25B in Digital Adspend, the MENA region ranks in the Top5 EMEA markets by size.  Despite a significant slowdown in Q4, particularly across social media, the growth rate of 13,6% positions the MENA region as a faster growing market than both EMEA and the US. 

–        Video again dominated the region at 50% of the total digital investment, with social video up 31,5% accounting for 62% of total video. 

–        Search was a big winner for the year, with a growth rate in excess of 18% in part due to additional investments in retail search, and a limited decline in Q4.

Commenting on the results, Ian Manning, IAB MENA’s Executive Director stated that: ‘The Adspend Survey release is always a highlight on our calendar as it reminds us all how dynamic and exciting the region is from a digital advertising point of view, which continues to witness growth from both the spending and sophistication perspectives”. 

As in previous years, the methodology was driven by mathematical modeling, validated through a mix of actual spends, collaborative estimates, and comparative benchmarks to reach agreed figures and growth rates.   

Michel Malkoun, Chair of the IAB MENA Board highlighted: “The value of this industry wide collaboration is evident in the participation of the validation process and how the report has become an increasingly significant part of the business planning process for local companies as well as those who are looking to invest further in the region.”

Chris Solomi, Vice-Chair of the IAB MENA added: “Although we are still primarily a video and in-particular social video market, we are starting to see the emergence of other formats, such as CTV and retail media, especially retail search, within the numbers.  It’s not yet enough to call out separately, but the impact is clearly growing, as we see advertisers looking for new opportunities to generate value for their brands”.

The full report is available exclusively to members of IAB MENA.