Though global advertising growth slowed down to begin 2023, it will resume a more typical pace during the rest of the year as inflation eases and supply-chain issues continue to resolve, according to a new forecast from media investment group GroupM, a unit of WPP. 

Ad spending will increase 5.9% this year to $874.5 billion, excluding U.S. political advertising, the report said. That figure is slightly behind global inflation as predicted by the International Monetary Fund, meaning it represents a slight decline in real terms, said Kate Scott-Dawkins, president of business intelligence at GroupM, in a presentation Thursday. The projection is in line with GroupM’s forecast late last year.