Includes ad spending and agencies, marketer profiles, top advertisers by country and data sources for each country.
Download the 100 WLA 2022 ranking in Excel.
Cautious growth as a recession may loom
Ad spending growth for top global marketers slowed in 2022 following a remarkable rebound in 2021.
Budgets could come under more pressure in 2023.
Analysis by Bradley Johnson
Top line: Quick links to rankings and charts
Big picture, key stats, advertiser rankings and more.
Introducing Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers 2022
Ad Age's annual global report ranks the world's top advertisers—and shows how marketers are maneuvering with a downturn on the horizon.
Analysis by Bradley Johnson
Read About Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers 2022 at the bottom of this page.
Ad Age Datacenter subscribers can click tabs and "+" signs to see expanded data. The first record can be viewed for free. To subscribe, go to AdAge.com/getdatacenter.
Top 100 marketers by total worldwide advertising in 2021. Click Ad Age World's 100 Largest Advertisers to see ranking.
Worldwide advertising spending $2.55 billion
51| TOTAL WORLDWIDE AD SPENDING | |||
| Worldwide | Year ended 12/31/2021 | Year ended 12/31/2020 | % chg |
| Total worldwide advertising spending (U.S. dollars in millions) | $2,545 | $2,228 | 14.2 |
| Click the Profiles tab at the top of this page to read more about this marketer. Source: Ad Age Datacenter. Netflix ranked No. 64 in 2021 total U.S. ad spending in Ad Age's Leading National Advertisers report. Click on Netflix to see U.S. ad spending, brands and agencies from Ad Age's Marketer Trees 2022. | |||
| WORLDWIDE AD SPENDING AS PERCENT OF SALES | |||
| Year | Ad costs ($ in millions) | Worldwide ad spending as percent of sales | |
| 1998 | 2.2 | 368.2 | |
| 1999 | 3.9 | 80.6 | |
| 2000 | 10.4 | 29.0 | |
| 2001 | 12.0 | 16.2 | |
| 2002 | 32.4 | 21.5 | |
| 2003 | 46.5 | 17.2 | |
| 2004 | 91.8 | 18.3 | |
| 2005 | 135.9 | 19.9 | |
| 2006 | 215.3 | 21.6 | |
| 2007 | 207.9 | 17.2 | |
| 2008 | 158.7 | 11.6 | |
| 2009 | 175.0 | 10.5 | |
| 2010 | 212.4 | 9.8 | |
| 2011 | 299.1 | 9.3 | |
| 2012 | 351.0 | 9.7 | |
| 2013 | 404.0 | 9.2 | |
| 2014 | 533.1 | 9.7 | |
| 2015 | 714.3 | 10.5 | |
| 2016 | 842.4 | 9.5 | |
| 2017 | 1,091.1 | 9.3 | |
| 2018 | 1,808.0 | 11.4 | |
| 2019 | 1,879.0 | 9.3 | |
| 2020 | 1,447.0 | 5.8 | |
| 2021 | 1,669.0 | 5.6 | |
| Ad costs: Stated worldwide "advertising expenses." 2013: Restated from $437.9 million. 2012: Restated from $377.2 million. Ad spending as percent of sales: Worldwide "advertising expenses" as percent of "revenues." | |||
| MEASURED-MEDIA SPENDING BY REGION IN 2021 | |||
| By region ($ in millions) | 2021 | 2020 | % chg |
| Africa | 2.3 | 4.6 | -50.5 |
| Asia and Pacific | 37.1 | 34.3 | 8.2 |
| Europe | 168.9 | 166.6 | 1.4 |
| Latin America | 28.3 | 41.1 | -31.1 |
| Canada | 0.0 | NA | NA |
| Subtotal media outside the U.S. | 236.6 | 246.5 | -4.0 |
| U.S. media spending | 98.7 | 111.1 | -11.1 |
| Worldwide measured media | $335.2 | $357.6 | -6.3 |
| For data sources by country, click Sources tab at top of page. U.S. measured media from Kantar. | |||
| SALES AND EARNINGS ($ in millions from public documents) | |||
| Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) | |||
| Worldwide | Year ended 12/31/2021 | Year ended 12/31/2020 | % chg |
| Sales | $29,698 | $24,996 | 18.8 |
| Earnings | 5,116 | 2,761 | 85.3 |
| GEOGRAPHIC SALES (year ended 12/31/2021) | |||
| Region ($ in millions) | Year ended 12/31/2021 | Year ended 12/31/2020 | % chg |
| Rest of world | 17,598 | 14,196 | 24.0 |
| U.S. | 12,100 | 10,800 | 12.0 |
| DIVISION SALES | |||
| Division or segment sales ($ in millions) | Year ended 12/31/2021 | Year ended 12/31/2020 | % chg |
| Streaming | 29,515 | 24,757 | 19.2 |
| Domestic DVD | 182 | 239 | -23.8 |
Marketer profiles for Ad Age World's 100 Largest Advertisers in 2021.
Worldwide advertising spending $2.55 billion
51Top 10 marketers by country in 2021 (U.S. dollars in millions) in 74 countries and markets. Sources are listed under the country name. Click the plus sign to expand.
Kantar Hungary
| Measured media spending | 2021 | 2020 | % chg |
| Sanofi | 469.2 | 308.9 | 51.9 |
| Ferrero | 290.1 | 231.1 | 25.5 |
| Haleon | 273.5 | 318.1 | -14.0 |
| Extreme Digital-Emag | 271.6 | 74.6 | 263.9 |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | 255.1 | 243.6 | 4.7 |
| Coca-Cola Co. | 215.0 | 44.9 | 379.0 |
| Unilever | 206.3 | 137.6 | 49.9 |
| Bayer | 205.6 | 182.8 | 12.5 |
| Vodafone | 201.7 | 122.6 | 64.5 |
| Henkel | 187.5 | 153.3 | 22.3 |
Media-measurement companies by country. This tab is free to all users.
By country. Click the plus sign to expand.
36th annual global report, produced by Ad Age Datacenter.
The complete Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers 2022, including top 100 ranking and Global Marketers database, is available online exclusively to Ad Age Datacenter subscribers at AdAge.com/globalmarketers2022. Online content includes:
-- Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers 2022 ranking: Ad Age's exclusive ranking of the 100 biggest spenders based on total worldwide advertising spending.
-- Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers 2022 database: Global Marketers database with profiles, ad spending, executives and key agencies for world's 100 biggest spenders.
-- Top marketers by country: Rankings based on measured-media spending.
Methodology for Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers: Spending for Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers from Ad Age Datacenter estimates and company disclosures. Total worldwide advertising spending encompasses advertising, marketing services (including promotion and direct marketing) and digital marketing (including social media). Figures are based on calendar 2021 results or, for companies on fiscal years, the most recent fiscal year ended on or before June 30, 2022. Numbers rounded. Ad Age translated currencies to U.S. dollars at average exchange rates.
Methodology for top marketers by country and regional ad spending by marketer: Spending calculated by Ad Age Datacenter using measured-media data contributed by media tracking services covering 74 countries and markets. Primary sources of data by country include Kantar; Nielsen; Ibope (Latin America); AGB Nielsen Media Research; Ipsos (Africa and Middle East), and Sigma Conseil (North Africa and Western Africa). (See each country or the source links tab for links.) In some cases, monitoring services are licensees or partners of Nielsen or Kantar. Other independent companies also supplied data. Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann and IPG Mediabrands and WPP's Wunderman Thompson and GroupM contributed significantly to the report.
To determine the top advertisers in each country, Ad Age Datacenter started with measured-media listings from monitoring services that ranged from as few as five advertisers in smaller countries to as many as 500 advertisers in larger countries. Ad Age Datacenter aggregated spending by parent company.
Most measured-media lists per country were by gross rate-card ad rates. Ad Age Datacenter adjusted some markets' gross media expenditures to reflect a market's global media volume among all countries. Ad Age translated currencies to U.S. dollars at average exchange rates.
Related content: Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2022, which ranks marketers by total U.S. spending; and Ad Age Marketer Trees 2022, a database of the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers' top 100 spenders.
Datacenter directors: Bradley Johnson, Kevin Brown. Research editor: Joy R. Lee. Research assistants: Nadia Alexandra, Brian Gilbert, Gisselle Foster, Nathalie Lavanchy-Prack.
-- Questions? Comments? Updates? Contact us: [email protected]
-- This database was last updated Dec. 5, 2022.
-- Archive of Global Marketers reports: 2000 to present.
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