Digital advertising in Latin America – statistics & facts

Latin America ended 2023 having fully transitioned into a predominantly digital advertising market. That year, online channels' share in the Latin American ad expenditure surpassed 52 percent, up from roughly 48 percent two years before. A series of ongoing trends – from influencer marketing to digital retail media – push the results forward in a region known for its diverse audience.

A retail media champion

The subcontinent is home to an estimated 349 million online shoppers as of 2024. This multitude of e-commerce users consume not only products and services but also more and more advertisements. Latin America's digital retail media ad spend was predicted to amount to roughly 1.5 billion dollars in 2024, about half a billion more than in 2021. Multiple players compete for those ad dollars, but one local retail media network (RMN) still reigns supreme. In 2023, Mercado Libre alone accounted for almost half of the online retail media ad expenditure. Meanwhile, Amazon's operations in the region's two largest economies – Brazil and Mexico – collectively held a share of less than 20 percent.

Trending digital ad formats

Similarly to other regions across the world, the Latin American online ad market has seen the video format gain momentum. It ranked second in 2023 and surpassed search by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the latest estimates. Other global trends found in Latin America a favorable environment to evolve, if not skyrocket. Influencer marketing revenues, for example, were projected to grow nearly tenfold between 2017 and 2027, surpassing 1.1 billion dollars in 2024. Programmatic advertising has also risen in some of the region's key economies. It was estimated that, throughout 2023, more than three-quarters of digital ads were purchased programmatically in countries like Peru, Argentina, and Brazil. In Chile, the share stood slightly below 70 percent.

The challenges of a vast audience

Characterized by tremendous diversity, the region requires marketers to pay extra attention to the differences in online consumer behavior. In Brazil, over 70 percent of internet users surveyed at the end of 2023 said they researched brands online before shopping. In Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, that share stood below 60 percent. During a mid-2023 survey among members of Generation Z – born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s – in Mexico, about 40 percent reported feeling often annoyed by digital ads. Nearly half of Brazilian Gen Zers, however, had already bought products endorsed by influencers.

Will Latin American digital advertising continue to grow?

Digital's share in ad investments was forecast to consistently increase as the decade unfolds, expanding more than fourfold between 2017 and 2027. Other sources expect even higher values, with Latin America's digital ad spending reaching almost 26 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. That means yet another double-digit annual growth rate for the segment, with investments in online ads increasing by about 20 percent.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by J. G. Navarro, Feb 29, 2024

Key insights

Latin America's digital ad spending
25.9bn USD
Latin America's digital ad spend growth rate
19.8%
Number of Latin American countries among the world's top 10 digital ad markets
1
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