Latin America’s newspaper industry manages to grow despite increased competition from the Internet.

BY LATINVEX STAFF
 
While newspapers in the United States and Europe are struggling to survive, their counterparts in Latin America are having more success.

Latin America’s newspaper sector last year saw advertising revenues grow by 3.9 percent to $6.2 billion, according to UK-based ZenithOptimedia. That compares with an 8 percent decline in the United States and an 8.4 percent fall in Western Europe.

This year, Latin America’s newspapers are expected to see a 12.8 percent increase to $7.0 billion as the US and Western Europe continue their declines.  And next year, Latin American newspaper ads should see a further increase of 11.9 percent.

Newspapers in both Brazil and Mexico, Latin America’s two largest economies, are seeing some declines as a result of weak economic performance in both countries.

But newspapers in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela are all growing their advertising revenues.

Argentina, the top newspaper ad market, is expected to see a 27 percent increase this year to $2.5 billion.

Colombia, the third-largest newspaper ad market, will likely see a 5.1 percent growth to $624 million, while Venezuela (the fourth-largest market) is expected to see a 10.8 percent increase to $554 million.

Peru, the 8^th-largest newspaper ad market, should see revenues grow 4.5 percent to $115 million, ZenithOptimedia estimates.

El Salvador’s newspaper ad sales will likely grow by 2.6 percent to $319 million.  Despite its relatively small size, the country’s newspaper advertising is higher than larger countries like Peru and Costa Rica and only 9.4 percent lower than that of Mexico, Latin America’s second-largest country in population and GDP.

Meanwhile, Costa Rica is expected to replace Ecuador in newspaper ad sales this year thanks to a 10.3 percent increase to $107 million.

BRAZIL AND MEXICO

Brazil, the second-largest newspaper ad market in Latin America, will likely see 3.7 percent decline this year to $1.6 billion.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s newspaper ad spending is set to fall 2.2 percent to $352 million. Despite Mexico’s size (population of 117.6 million), its newspaper sector ranks behind four smaller economies.

Brazil’s newspaper ad market is expected to remain flat next year and then grow by 2.9 percent in 2016, while Mexico’s market will likely see a 2 percent decline next year and another 0.9 percent fall in 2016.

However, both Brazil and Mexico are still faring better than the United States, where newspaper advertising is expected to drop for the 8^th consecutive year to a level that represents a 58.9 percent decline from the 2006 level, according to ZenithOptimedia.