Advertising spend in the UK is growing at its fastest rate in three years, increasing 8.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 to reach £4.5bn for the quarter.

The rate, which comes from the latest Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report, is the highest growth rate since Q3 2010, and over twice the rate the overall economy is growing. The report also revised its earlier full-year forecast up by 0.4 points, predicting overall annual growth of 6.4 per cent.

“Growth at twice the rate of UK GDP is quite a headline,” said Tim Lefroy, chief executive at the Advertising Association, “but the real story is of digital and creative leadership in eCommerce.”

Internet adspend was one of the primary drivers of growth, with a 17.2 per cent increase year-on-year for the quarter, and an expected annual growth of 15.1 per cent. Annual mobile growth, though still increasingly rapidly, was moderated down from Julys forecast, from 75 per cent to 56 per cent.

However, these large increases seen in digital were dragged back by declines in print advertising, which is expected to drop by 5 per cent annually for regional news brands, 3.3 per cent for magazines and 2.8 per cent for national news.