The 2008 IPSOS Media Expenditure data is available for download from mediaME. The advertising market in the Middle East grew by around 18% from $9 billion in 2007 to $11 billion in 2008. It seems the region did not bear the brunt of the financial crisis in 2008. In fact, this growth is consistent with the previous year, when expenditure grew from $7 billion to $9 billion.

It is now clear that the ad market is in the middle of a sharp downturn that began in Q3 2008 and accelerated in Q4. ZenithOptimedia has reduced its forecast for adspend growth in 2009 from 4.0% to -0.2% as the fallout from the financial crisis has spread throughout the real economies of the developed world.

Emirates Business 24/7 reports that despite huge expectations of online ad spend in the next few years, an expert in the UAE said the print media will remain the leader in attracting the money spent on advertising.