TOKYO, JAPAN – Asia-Pacific’s ad industry is charging ahead, outpacing global trends with a projected 5.8% growth in 2025 according to Dentsu’s latest Ad Spend Report. While markets in EMEA and the Americas brace for a slowdown, APAC remains the epicenter of digital ad innovation. Digital now commands 70% of total ad spend, with programmatic advertising surging by 24%.
China’s digital giants Tencent, ByteDance, and Alibaba continue to dominate, driving a 6.7% increase in ad investments, with Douyin/TikTok seeing an 11% surge. India is set to post a staggering 20% growth in digital ad spend, fueled by booming OTT platforms and retail media.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia is stealing the spotlight with the region’s ad market is forecast to expand by 6.8% in 2025. Countries like the Philippines (15.4%) and Malaysia (5.1%) are leading the charge, reinforcing SEA’s position as a key growth driver in APAC.
Emerging AI-driven tools and the rise of “super-apps” are transforming how consumers discover brands, leading to a slight dip in search ad growth to 3.9%. Retail media, on the other hand, is skyrocketing, with a projected 10% CAGR through 2031, powered by e-commerce titans such as Tmall, Shopee, Lazada, and Flipkart.
Prerna Mehrotra, Chief Client Officer & Practice President, Media, dentsu APAC commented: “Two engines of growth, the dynamism of China and India, and the unrelenting modernization of Southeast Asia, are driving the region’s robust advertising investment. Amidst diverse market development profiles – one constant stands true: digital dominance. As it barrels towards digital maturity, the APAC region will shape the momentum of connected commerce, retail media and AI-powered programmatic. Brands that master the balance between automation and strategic oversight will be the ones to lead the next wave of innovation.”
The disruption of search and retail media will continue to rise, growing at a 10% CAGR through 2031, driven by e-commerce giants such as Tmall, Shopee, Lazada and Flipkart. India is experiencing an ad boom, with digital media ad spend set to grow by 20% in 2025, three times higher than the overall ad industry’s growth rate. In China, spending across the “Big 6” platforms – Tencent, ByteDance, Baidu, Alibaba, Douyin/TikTok and Xiaohongshu – will grow by 6.7% year-over-year, with Douyin/TikTok alone seeing an 11% rise in ad investment. These platforms are at the forefront of AI-powered media buying, further cementing their dominance in the market.
Digital ad spend in Australia will see continued growth, with video ad spend projected to rise by 8.7% year-on-year, bolstered by key events such as the 2025 national elections.
Matt Farrington, President, Investment & Trading, dentsu APAC, commented: “We are seeing a rapid transformation of Asia-Pacific’s advertising landscape and a shift in the platforms advertisers are choosing to invest in. This is reflected through growing ad spends year-on-year, with Southeast Asia emerging a sub-regional powerhouse, outpacing other parts of the region.
“The greatest growth is coming through continued spend migration into digital and connected media, which now accounts for 70% of the total spend across Asia-Pacific.
“Brands are increasingly turning to mega-app environments – think Douyin/TikTok, Xiahongshu and the Meta family of apps – that cater for all moments of the customer journey and which are completely reshaping how customer discover, search and purchase.
“Additionally, brands are seeing more opportunity in retail media to unlock new, commerce-driven solutions. This is particularly prevalent in the largest and fastest growing markets such as India, China and Southeast Asia, where we continue to see a proliferation of retailers becoming ad networks in their own right.
“Australia is facing slower growth relative to its regional peers but is still positioned for a modest 3.7% increase in spend, driven by the accelerated digitisation of channels such as TV, OOH and audio,” added Farrington.
The digital boom in SEA remains a defining force in APAC’s growth story.
- Indonesia is maintaining a steady 5% YoY ad spend increase.
- The Philippines is surging at 15.4% in 2025 before stabilizing at around 7%.
- Singapore is rebounding, set to hit 6.6% growth by 2027.
- Thailand and Malaysia are on a steady incline, while Vietnam is expected to recover from recent declines by 2027.
With brands investing more in AI, retail media, and super-app environments, APAC’s ad industry is poised for another year of accelerated transformation. For a deep dive into the 2025 Dentsu Ad Spend Report, visit: https://info.dentsu.com/apac-ad-spend-2025.
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