After a lackluster 2023, ad spending is expected to jump significantly this year, according to a new forecast from market research firm PQ Media, which predicts a 7.7% increase in global advertising and marketing spending. That would be nearly double last year’s 4% growth from 2022 to $1.631 trillion.

Large-scale events such as the Super Bowl and the Olympics, which will take place this summer in Paris, are fueling this year’s growth as marketers invest more in such events to further their messaging. In addition, the U.S. political elections are expected to attract traditional TV spending this year.

“If the 2024 Super Bowl audience is an indication of consumer viewing habits, we believe brands will spend top dollar to be included in the over-the-air, digital and streaming coverage of the Paris Summer Olympics as well,” said Patrick Quinn, CEO of PQ Media, in a statement, noting that early data this year shows that brands are increasing their budgets.

Indeed, last month’s Super Bowl saw record viewership of 123.4 million across platforms, according to Nielsen data. Ad inventory reached a near sellout in November and several brands also shelled out for overtime ads, which cost an estimated $4 million.

PQ Media expects political media buying to exceed $14 billion this year, nearly double that of 2016, when $7 billion was spent.

Last year’s tepid growth of 4% marked the slowest rate of increase since 2015, PQ Media noted, citing factors including inflation and fears of a recession. A year ago, the firm was predicting that ad spend in 2023 would rise by 5.3%.

The report found that global advertising increased 2.6% last year to $732.89 billion; spending on more broadly defined global marketing activities rose 5.1% to $897.69 billion. Growth was led by global digital and alternative media, which increased 10.4%. By contrast, traditional media spending dropped 1.9%. 

Influencer, experiential and digital out-of-home adveritsing rose by double-digit percentages last year and are forecast to repeat such growth this year.

The report also called out the U.S. as continuing its reign as the world’s largest media market; ad and marketing spending here grew 3.7% last year to reach $645.08 billion.

This is the 11th year that PQ Media has published its Global Advertising & Marketing Spending Forecast.