Mobile ad spending in the UK is set to overtake spending on print advertising this year, with predictions suggesting that it will also surpass television spending next year as mobile and digital become the central channels for marketing.

According to a report by eMarketer, mobile ad spending will increase 45 per cent year on year during 2015, taking it to a total of £3.26bn, and representing 40.5 per cent of all digital ad spending and 20.1 per cent of total ad spending.

In comparison, print will bring in only £2.67bn, making up 16.4 per cent of total ad spending, a decrease of 4.7 per cent on last year.

Overall, ad spending growth is slowing, and is predicted to drop from 7.5 per cent in 2014 to 4.1 per cent in 2019. However, mobiles growth remains strong, climbing at 35 per cent next year and still increasing at around 15 per cent in 2019, by which time the market will have matured considerably.

eMarketer predict that next year will see mobile total around £4.4bn in ad spending, just edging past televisions ad spending of £4.27bn. Televisions growth has slowed dramatically in recent years as digital ascends, increasing only 5.2 per cent this year, and predicted to drop to just one per cent by 2019.

“UK consumers already have a pretty packed media day, but mobile use is clearly filling in any gaps,” said Bill Fisher, an analyst at eMarketer. “The rapid rise in time spent with mobile comes as no surprise. With each new smartphone or tablet release, the computing capabilities of these mobile devices improves, and consumers are clearly putting them to good use.”