Ireland’s advertising market is forecast to grow by 9.7% in 2026, outperforming most mature European markets as advertisers adopt a more confident stance amid relatively stable macroeconomic conditions, according to the latest forecast from WPP Media.
According to WPP Media’s “Ireland: This Year Next Year” report, total media investment is projected to reach €1.83bn next year with digital channels accounting for as much as 68% of all advertising investment.
This follows on from a strong 2025 which saw advertising investment grow by around 8.2% to €1.68bn, according to WPP Media’s figures.
“Overall, 2025 was a good year for advertising in Ireland, with both demand and supply keeping good pace with each other across most media meaning stable pricing and healthy ROI for advertisers,” said James Heriot, head of trading, WPP Media Ireland.
“From a market perspective we now predict a strong 9.7% expansion in 2026, reflective of a more confident approach amongst clients to the new communications landscape, the Summer bump of the FIFA World Cup and the likely arrival of at least one of the big Streamers to market.”
According to WPP Media, digital revenue continues to be main engine for growth. “With pureplay digital set to represent nearly two thirds of ad revenue in 2025 and the largest sellers of advertising (Google, Meta and Amazon) expected to again grow in double-digits,” the agency noted.
WPP Media has forecast that overall digital investment will be up by 14.6% to €1.24bn. Of this, €600m will be attributable to search-related advertising while the remaining €600m will be non-search.
Elsewhere, WPP is forecasting that TV, the second-largest media channel, will grow modestly by around 1.9% to €256m this year while audio is likely to be flat at €157m, up 0.2% from €156m in 2025.
Meanwhile, WPP Media is forecasting that investment in OOH will be up by around 6% in 2026 to around €94m while both newspaper and magazine advertising will decline by around 7.3% and 9.2% respectively to €64m and €7m.
Apart from the continued growth in digital this year, WPP Media is also expecting retail media to continue its upward trajectory in 2026 with a forecast growth of around 32% this year to €32m.
“Retail media growth has accelerated rapidly to more than double in 2025, with the long -awaited arrival of Amazon.ie on the scene inevitably altering the playing field completely. As a result, we have seen ballooning advertiser investment previously directed to UK and a new drive and focus from the local Supermarkets and other select retailers to bring their own offerings online and out to market. Growth over the next 5 years is expected to remain well ahead of market at a compound annual rate of just under 25%,” WPP noted.
