MUMBAI: Global ad spend has hiked 2.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis for the first half of 2013, according to Nielsen's Global AdView Pulse report, which finds that marketers in Latin America had the highest increase in spending for the period.

For the second quarter of 2013, expenditures grew 3.5 per cent.

All regions contributed to the global growth, except Europe, where there was a six per cent decline for the period from January to June. Latin America was booming, with gains of 13.1 per cent to $13.5 billion. There was a quarterly growth of 3.9 per cent in the Middle East and Africa. The Asia Pacific had growth of 6.4 per cent and North America of 2.7 per cent.

Within Latin America, Argentina contributed significantly to the growth in the region, with a nearly 30 per cent increase in ad spending. Indonesia, China and the Philippines all contributed double-digit growth in the Asia Pacific for the first half of the year, with expenditures reaching $51 billion. In Europe, ad spending was up in Norway (2.5 per cent), Switzerland (0.6 per cent) and Greece (7.4 per cent), though all other countries in the region saw a decline.