Digital adverts to make up 55pc of ad spending in China by 2018, says PwC

Total entertainment and media spending on digital advertising will grow at a 12.2 per cent compound annual growth rate globally between 2013 and 2018, analysts at PwC say.

The global accounting firm's report "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2014 to 2018", says China will overtake Japan as the world's second-largest entertainment and media market, behind only the United States.

"Digital advertising will take 55 per cent market share of the total advertising spend in China by 2018, compared with 40 per cent in 2013," said Marcel Fenez, PwC's global leader for entertainment and media.

In comparison, PwC predicts the percentage of digital advertising in Hong Kong's market will be only 18 per cent by 2018, 4 percentage points higher than last year.

Fenez said this is because Hong Kong is a small market and it is relatively easy for brands to reach consumers, while in a market that is much bigger and much more dispersed, advertisers have to look at mass media. "In China, the biggest form of mass media is by far the internet," he said. "The power of the internet in China for advertising is huge."

In Hong Kong, advertising on television will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.1 per cent to 2018 and in newspapers at 4.6 per cent, the study says.