The UK advertising sector is expected to begin a period of recovery in the third quarter of 2010, ending over two years of negative growth.

Industry body The Advertising Association has published data which suggests advertising spend will increase by 2.8 per cent in the autumn, following nine consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline.

The research, which was carried out by Warc, also said total ad spend for 2009 is now expected to be down by 12.7 per cent, or 14.6 per cent at current prices, representing the worst recession the advertising industry in the UK has faced since quarterly records were first compiled in 1982.

Tim Lefroy, chief executive of The Advertising Association, said: “The underlying data shows not just the painful recession effect overall but the dynamic reshaping of the UK advertising landscape. For some it’s the perfect storm, for others the perfect opportunity.”

A separate survey released earlier this week suggests companies across the world will increase their digital marketing budgets by an average of 17 per cent this year.

The data, compiled by ExactTarget and Econsultancy, also found digital marketing would account for 24 per cent of total marketing budgets in 2010.