HK ad spending up 7% YoY to HK$9.23bn in Q3

Hong Kong's advertising spending has reached HK$9.23 billion in the third quarter of 2026, representing a year-on-year (YOY) increase of 7%, driven in part by the FIFA World Cup, according to admanGo's latest report.

Despite continued external economic uncertainty, the local advertising market has overcome challenges to record positive growth in each of the first three quarters of 2026, reflecting advertisers' continued optimism towards the local economy and consumer spending.

The summer holidays and the extended Golden Week period, with the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays falling close together, contributed to a continued recovery in visitor arrivals, prompting retail, food and related industries to step up promotions and further boost local ad spending.

Q3 ad spending also benefited from FIFA World Cup excitement, which encouraged advertisers to allocate more resources to marketing and promotions. According to admanGo's World Cup ad spend report released in August, tournament-related ad spending totalled HK$164 million from January to July 2026, more than 1.5 times the corresponding period of the previous tournament, from June to December 2022.

Among them, Now Broadband TV, which holds the exclusive broadcasting rights to the FIFA World Cup in Hong Kong, made substantial investments in digital advertising across the MTR network, directly propelling the media sector to the top of the industry rankings by ad spending. The media sector's share of total ad spending surged from 5% during the previous tournament to 28% in the current edition.

In terms of advertising channels, outdoor accounted for 26% of World Cup-related ad spending, significantly exceeding its 11% share of Hong Kong's overall advertising market during the same period. This highlights advertisers' clear preference for allocating more resources to Outdoor during the World Cup.

From a media perspective, social media ranked first in ad spending for Q3 2026, followed by TV and mobile, which ranked second and third respectively. Eight of the Top 10 Industries recorded positive ad spending growth in the third quarter of 2026, with half achieving double-digit increases.

Retail recorded the strongest growth of all industries, with ad spending rising 40% YOY. Its ranking climbed from 9th in 2025 to 4th in 2026. Pharmaceuticals and healthcare (19%), insurance (36%) and food (10%) also achieved double-digit growth.

Banking and investment services ranked first among the top 10 industries by ad spending in the third quarter of 2026, recording an 11% YOY increase. Among the Top 10 advertiser groups, HSBC Group and Hang Seng Bank recorded YOY increases of 23% and 79% respectively, while Standard Chartered registered a 6% decline. These figures reflect differing advertising investment strategies among major banking groups.

Eight of the top 10 advertiser groups recorded double-digit growth in the third quarter of 2026. These included Vita Green Health Products (41%), Nestle Group (60%), Chinese Pharm (89%), Maxim's Caterers (14%), DFI Retail Group (38%) and AS Watsons Group (45%).

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