• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, February 14, 2022

With consumer price inflation reaching a 40-year high of 7.5% this month, ad price inflation is projected to grow at a relatively more moderate rate, according to new estimates released this morning from ECI Media Management.

North American media-buying costs are expected to rise 5.4%, while worldwide costs are projected to increase 4.5% this year, according to the new report.

The ad industry inflation rate is only marginally higher than the amount that ECI estimates it rose in 2021 -- although the rate of online ad-price inflation is expanding while the rate of offline is waning, relative to 2021.

“Media prices inflated overall in 2021 and this was particularly true in key markets and especially for TV, which saw increasing inflation as the year progressed and hit a high in the fourth quarter," ECI Global CEO Fredrik Kinge notes, adding: "With inflation in most markets now recovered and surpassing 2019 levels we are expecting inflation in 2022 to continue rising. TV and online inflation continue to increase across the world."

While the prices for all U.S. media are projected to recover somewhat in 2022, ECI projects print media -- including magazines and newspapers -- "will remain deflationary" this year.