Advertising expenditure in Russia 2012-2024, by medium

The value of advertising expenditure in Russia on the internet saw a steady increase over the observed period, increasing by more than four times between 2012 and 2019. By 2024, it was forecast to reach approximately 5.3 billion U.S. dollars, which would be roughly 1.6 billion U.S. dollars higher than in 2019. Spending on newspaper advertising was expected to decline to nearly 49 million U.S. dollars in 2024.

Who are the leading advertisers in Russia?

Russia’s mobile network operator MTS, or Mobile TeleSystems, had the highest advertising spending in 2019, measuring at 6.55 billion Russian rubles. Another telecommunications company, Tele2 spent the largest budget on internet ads at approximately 2.2 billion Russian rubles in the same year. Nearly 4.2 billion Russian rubles was the TV ad expenditure of Pepsi Co, which led the ranking of television advertisers in 2019.

COVID-19 impact on Russian advertisers

Approximately 70 percent of advertisers in Russia had to reduce administrative expenses, such as rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted among members of the Russian Association of Communication Agencies. Furthermore, over 40 percent admitted having cut their spending on employee wages. When asked about their outlook on the Russian advertising market from April to June 2020, 18 percent of agencies expected it to decline by 30 percent compared to the second quarter of the previous year.