Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Work Hours
Monday to Friday: 7AM - 7PM
Weekend: 10AM - 5PM
Consumer spending on media content and technology worldwide experienced a notable slowdown in 2022, with growth reaching 6.3%, reaching a total of $2.186 trillion. This deceleration followed a robust 6.9% increase in 2021, marking the strongest growth in consumer media spending over the past decade. These findings are a part of a recent study conducted by PQ Media, a leading provider of media econometrics.
The data suggests that despite the overall solid gain in 2022, the pace of consumer media spending, similar to consumer media usage, began to decelerate due to a significant slowdown in expenditures on major digital and traditional media subscriptions, access, and devices throughout the year, as outlined in the Global Consumer Spending on Media Forecast 2023–2027.
Patrick Quinn, CEO of PQ Media, expressed concerns about the trajectory of consumer media and tech spending, stating, “PQ Media projects consumer media and tech expenditures will lose even more steam during the 2023–2027 period, as the pandemic-driven forces that sparked unexpected spending surges in many media and tech categories in 2020–2021 continue to fade.”
In 2022, consumer spending on media content surged by 10.8%, reaching $930.66 billion, while the total spending on media-related technology saw a 3.3% increase, reaching $1.255 trillion. Notably, consumer spending on digital media content and tech experienced a 7.9% rise, reaching $1.589 trillion, while end-user spending on traditional media content and tech increased by 2.4%, reaching $596.74 billion.
The United States remained the world’s largest consumer media and tech market in 2022, with a total spending of $509.74 billion. Conversely, South Africa stood out as the fastest-growing among the top 20 markets, witnessing a remarkable growth rate of 9.8%. On average, global consumers spent $374.36 on all media content and tech in 2022, representing a 5.7% increase from 2021. Of this spending, $272.17 was allocated to digital media, while $102.19 was spent on traditional media, as per the Global Consumer Spending on Media Forecast 2023–2027.
However, PQ Media’s research suggests that the robust growth observed in 2022 was partially attributed to the substantial double-digit increase in movie admissions worldwide. This resurgence followed a sharp decline in 2020 due to the pandemic. The reopening of theaters played a pivotal role in boosting spending but was considered a temporary disruption in the long-term industry trends that will continue in the coming years, potentially resulting in slower growth or outright declines across various digital and traditional media content and tech categories.
Additionally, macroeconomic challenges, such as inflation, interest rate hikes, regional banking crises, and geopolitical tensions, influenced consumer behavior, leading many to cut back on discretionary spending. Categories such as broadband internet access, computer tablets, DVD players, pay-per-view, and print book clubs experienced their lowest growth rates in 2022. Economic uncertainties further dampened spending on items that had witnessed surges during the pandemic, including streaming video services and print books.
The return to normalcy, with students returning to classrooms and workers to corporate offices in 2022, also contributed to the deceleration of growth. This reduced the demand for new digital technology, such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, home office equipment, and high-speed broadband access.
Looking ahead, pre-pandemic trends are resurfacing, linking consumer media usage and spending. Major global events like the Olympics, World Cup, and political elections are expected to drive spending growth in even years, followed by periods of decelerated growth in odd years. PQ Media identifies media content and tech categories affected by these long-term trends, including single-copy newspaper and magazine sales, video-on-demand, digital video downloads, television set upgrades, and smart speaker adoption.
Furthermore, certain media content and tech categories are becoming obsolete due to improved distribution methods and the shift to newer digital platforms. Some countries have reported the discontinuation of dial-up internet access in 2022 or 2023. Other affected categories include feature mobile cell phones, music and book CDs, and movie and television DVDs.
On a positive note, the videogame industry experienced growth, thanks to increased manufacturing facilities and supply chain improvements. This was in contrast to issues that limited the availability of new gaming console upgrades and accessories in 2020–2021, such as virtual reality headgear.
Other key highlights from the PQ Media Forecast include:
- Pure-play mobile media as the largest of the 10 hybrid-media silo spending categories in 2022, reaching $522.87 billion, with movies witnessing the fastest growth at 16.3%.
- Wireless data subscriptions as the largest of the 28 digital media categories in 2022, reaching $266.74 billion, with digital audio streaming and satellite radio posting the fastest growth at 27.2%.
- Basic and premium TV subscriptions as the largest of the 14 traditional media categories in 2022, reaching $227.13 billion, with movie admissions and home video discs registering the strongest growth at 30%.
- Russia ranking first in digital media’s share of overall content and tech spending in 2022 at 84.4%, while Japan ranked first in average consumer expenditures on all media at $1,648.98.
- The forecast indicating that global consumer spending on total media content and tech is expected to rise by 5.7% in 2023, with the US market projected to register a 4.5% gain.
