Days after Nielsen’s GlobalAdView Pulse reported Middle East to be the highest growth region in the US$503 billion global ad industry in 2010, the political upheavals in certain parts have left the regional markets reeling under pressure with a 1% decline in measured ad spending in the first quarter of the year.

In a most recent report by PARC, numbers have shown that spending on advertising has grown in the Middle East, reaching $13.7 billion in 2010. Saudi Arabia has reversed its downslide from 4% in 2009 to a 6% gain in 2010. Other 2010 market gains in the region were Kuwait (+11%), Lebanon (+16%), Qatar (+16%), Oman (+17%), Jordan (+1%) and Bahrain (+37%). Television share increased from 54% in 2009 to 62% in 2010 as spending on Television surged by 43% over the past year. Newspaper share has decreased to 27% in 2010 compared to 33% in 2009. Download the full report here.