Australia's ad market is forecast to grow 6.5% to A$30.7 billion in 2026, per WPP Media. Retail media is the fastest growing channel and digital keeps taking share. A growing market is not the same as a growing business.
Growth in the total market means nothing if your share of it is shrinking. The averages hide who is winning.
Australia's advertising market is forecast to grow 6.5% to A$30.7 billion in 2026, according to WPP Media. The money is not leaving the market. It is moving.
The market grew 5.2% to A$28.9 billion in 2025 and is set to accelerate this year. Retail media is the fastest growing channel, forecast to expand 24.4% in 2026 after 28.1% growth in 2025, and it is on track to pass total TV ad revenue for the first time in 2027. Pure-play internet advertising now makes up 75.9% of total ad revenue and is expected to reach 83.5% by 2030. Search advertising is forecast to grow 9.1% this year while holding about 23% of total ad revenue.
Why it matters
A growing market is not the same as a growing business. Spend is concentrating into digital and retail media, so a brand still leaning on channels in decline is losing ground even while the market expands. For Australian operators the question is not whether to spend more. It is whether your mix matches where the money and the attention are actually going.
Australia's ad market is forecast to grow 6.5% to A$30.7 billion in 2026, with retail media up 24.4%
What to do about it
Compare your channel mix to where the market is growing. If you are heavy in declining channels, rebalance.
Look hard at retail media if you sell physical product. It is taking share for a reason.
Do not chase growth blindly. Scale when you know the return, scale back when you do not.
Treat search spend as a defend-and-measure line, since the click economics are shifting under it.
Keep some budget in your back pocket. Most of your spend will work, and you want room to push what does.
The market is growing. Whether your business grows with it depends on where you point the money.