The amont spent on advertising worldwide is slowing, with total global ad spend growing by 2.8 per cent in 2013 – to more than half a trillion dollars – compared to 4.4 per cent growth in 2012.

Mobile ad spend meanwhile will grow 79.7 per cent this year, although it still only makes up 2.6 per cent of total ad spend, or $15.81bn. It now represents 11.9 per cent of digital spend, according to eMarketer, compared to just 2.1 per cent five years ago.

eMarketer identifies clear room for growth, highlighting that while the number of mobile phone users worldwide have grown from 40 per cent in 2008 to 60.7 per cent today, smartphone users make up just under a third of them. Though the latest Global Media Intelligence report, produced in collaboration with Starcom MediaVest, says that this figure has already grown significantly from 2008, where smartphones represented just 3.7 per cent of mobile handsets.

Mobile ad spend will grow from $15.81bn in 2013 to to $59.67bn in 2017, but the established regional split will continue, with North America taking 48.7 per cent share of spend, APAC on 25.4 per cent and Western Europe on 21.9 per cent.

Latin Americas share of mobile spend will grow from 1 to 2 per cent, Central and Eastern Europe will increase from 1 to 1.4 per cent and the Middle East and Africa should see some growth from 0.3 to 0.6 per cent.