It was the worst year for the ad market since 2009. Only ad budgets placed on the Internet were higher

Value of advertising market in Poland in 2020. The total revenue of the company amounted to almost PLN 9 billion, which means a decrease of 8.6%. April and May were the weakest months in terms of growth – declines of over 30% resulted from the lockdown and crisis caused by COVID-19.

In the second half of the year, we saw a normalization of the situation and a return of advertising budgets almost to the levels of the corresponding period of 2019 – the third quarter recorded a 3% decline and the fourth quarter a decline of just over 1%. For all of 2020, only online ad budgets were 4.6% higher than in 2019, other media were definitely more affected by the pandemic. TV and radio lost 10.1% and 9.5% respectively, while dailies and magazines lost 29.6% and 37.4%. Cinemas recorded the strongest negative dynamics – advertising spending was 79.2% lower due to government decision to temporarily suspend cinema operations as of March 12. Cinemas launched in August, then closed again on Nov. 7 and didn't reopen until late 2020.

Vast majority of advertising sectors reduced their advertising investments. Among those that grew were retail (up 6.2%), computers and audio video (+7.9%), home products (+24.7%), and home appliances, furniture and decor (+2.2%).

The most difficult year in more than a decade is behind us, taking into account the economic situation and the situation in the advertising market. 2020 was the worst year in terms of GDP growth since statistics began. But despite the pandemic and constant changes in restrictions, the 2.8% drop in GDP was better than forecast and one of the smallest declines in Europe. This year will surely bring a rebound. November forecast of the National Bank of Poland assumes that the Polish GDP will grow by 3.1%. Similarly, the European Commission estimates.

The first two months of this year and information from advertisers about this year's budgets indicate that the advertising market in 2021 will grow, according to our estimates, by 6.4%. Another third wave of the pandemic has not caused major changes in advertising budgets and, unless the situation worsens, we should see increases in online, TV and radio budgets in the coming months.