MUMBAI: The advertising spend in the country is expected to grow by 12.5 per cent in 2018 from 9.6 per cent last year, according to the Dentsu Aegis ad spend report."2018 is expected to be a growth year considering the stabilisation post GST. Another growth driver would be the fiscal policies of the government, which are expected to be pro-spending and supporting the middle income groups," Dentsu Aegis Network India President Media Brands and Amplifi Kartik Iyer said. Digital media spend is forecast to increase by 30 per cent in 2018 with 43.6 per cent growth in mobile spend, which will account for 47 per cent of total digital spend in 2018."In India, the significant improvement in availability of high-speed networks at a lower cost is making a huge impact in the efficiency metrics of digital media. This will continue and therefore will support the faster growth of digital advertising," Iyer added.The advertising market in India is further expected to grow by 12.5 per cent in 2019, the report said.The global ad spends, which includes 59 countries, is expected to grow at 3.6 per cent in 2018 from 3.1 per cent in 2017. "This amounts to a global ad spend of USD 589.5 billion in 2018. Events such as the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the FIFA World Cup in Russia and US Congressional elections will help to drive this growth," it said.Asia Pacific ad spend growth is estimated to grow over 4.2 per cent in 2018, up from 3.5 per cent in 2017."The region is forecast to be the leading contributor to global ad spend growth in 2018, contributing 39.7 per cent, USD 8.1 billion of the total USD 20.3 billion incremental global increase, led by China, Japan, India and the Philippines," it saidGlobally, digital ad spends are expected to overtake television, with a growth of 12.6 per cent."Digital continues to power ad spend growth and is forecast to grow globally by 12.6 per cent in 2018, versus 15 per cent in 2017, amounting to USD 220.3 billion. 2018 will be the year that digital overtakes TV, exceeding even our own previous forecasts. Digital ad spend will account for a 38.3 per cent share of total ad spend in 2018, overtaking TV at 35.5 per cent," it said.Video and social will be the main drivers of growth within digital ad spend in 2018, powered by smartphone take-up and mobile-video in particular, it added.