Digital advertising is getting increasing significance in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), with
in Europe. Overall, the
continuously in the following years and grow by 33 percent between 2024 and 2029. The market size shrank in 2022 due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. The internet is the leading advertising medium in most CEE countries,
CEE's digital advertising leaders
Russia is estimated to have the highest online advertising expenditure in CEE, at over 5.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. After Russia, the region's major digital advertising markets are Poland, Czechia, and Hungary.
Serbia is the fastest-developing market, having increased its digital ad spend by nearly 28 percent in 2023.
Among the Baltic countries, Estonia had the highest growth in expenditure on online ads, followed by Lithuania. Furthermore, Lithuania ranks as the
CEE country with the largest share of mobile in the digital advertising spending.
Which formats dominate the digital advertising industry in CEE?
Advertisers in CEE spend the largest share of their digital advertising budget on display formats, such as banner and video ads, as well as on search ads. In Hungary, banners were the
leading digital advertising format until 2021 when they were surpassed by search advertising. Furthermore, search engine marketing
(SEM) accounted for the largest share of the Polish online ad budget, outperforming display ads. The
fastest-growing display advertising market in the region is Ukraine, with an annual increase of almost 134 percent.
The Russian invasion impact on digital advertising in Ukraine
The
war in Ukraine disrupted the work of digital advertising agencies across the country. Nearly six in 10
market players had halted their operations after February 24, 2022, though most have resumed activity since April 2022. As a result, the
Ukrainian digital advertising spending shrank by over 40 percent in 2022; however, it grew by almost 80 percent in the following year and was expected to continue expanding in 2024.
Outlook and potential challenges
Some of the
most dynamic digital advertising markets in Europe, CEE countries will continue embracing the internet as the leading advertising medium in the following years. Among the challenges faced by the industry are depreciation of third-party cookies and public resistance, as Serbia and Hungary have some of the largest
shares of consumers annoyed at online ads. Moreover, Serbia and Czechia have higher
ad block usage rates than in many other markets.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no
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Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
