MENA region’s digital advertising spend reached $6.95bn in 2024, up 19.8 per cent from the previous year, according to new data released by IAB MENA. The announcement, made at a closed-door member event on June 12, confirms the region’s continued momentum – and reframes its recent growth trajectory following a restatement of last year’s figures.
In 2023, IAB MENA had previously reported the market at $6.25bn, but enhanced econometric modelling and broader industry validation – to align themselves with international data standards – prompted a revision to $5.8bn, adjusting last year’s growth rate from 13.6 per cent to 14.3 per cent. Despite the change, both years mark milestones: 2023 was the first time MENA crossed the $6B threshold, while 2024 now stands as the region’s highest digital adspend total on record.
“The overall scale and growth rate is encouraging,” said Houda Tohme, Vice Chair of IAB MENA and CEO of Havas Media Middle East. “When looking deeper it’s even more encouraging that we are starting to see diversification of spends across the board, whether Display formats in Social due to shopping or new display and search spends due to retail media. The Digital Media market in MENA is maturing, offering fantastic new opportunities for advertisers.”
According to IAB’s updated data, social media continues to dominate, accounting for 59.5 per cent of total spend with 20.3 per cent YoY growth, slightly ahead of the market average. Social video alone grew by 28.9 per cent, cementing the region’s continued shift toward immersive, attention-rich formats. Meanwhile, non-video display grew more modestly at 12.7 per cent, though much of that was attributed to the rise of retail media display, a format now gaining traction in MENA after years of global buzz.
Search advertising also grew above the market average in 2024, driven in part by new activity in retail media and performance marketing. As a region, MENA retained its position as a Top 5 market in EMEA, while Saudi Arabia – now classified as a Top 10 individual market globally – led regional growth with a 23.5 per cent YoY increase.
Speaking about the improved modelling, Ian Manning, Executive Director of IAB MENA, said: “Our adspend report gets better and better each year with more accurate and more detailed data. This year we had a record number of companies contribute from more parts of the ecosystem. This, coupled with enhanced econometric modelling allows us to share more interesting and useful insights, with increasing confidence in its accuracy and usefulness. In fact, this year we have even more data which we will release later in the year as separate reports.”
The 2024 report continues the trends observed in last year’s study, which projected rapid growth in formats like CTV, digital OOH, retail media and gaming – all sectors that benefit from rising inventory, improved measurement and stronger demand for data-driven media.
Though the complete 2024 figures are available only to IAB MENA members, the topline results indicate a region moving beyond platform dominance and toward format variety.
