Ireland falls behind the global average in internet advertising and use of metaverse technologies according to a PwC report published today.
Ireland’s entertainment and media industry is forecasted add €1bn by 2027, according to a PwC report, thanks to an increased reliance on mobile and digital technologies.
Published today (6 November), the report on Ireland’s entertainment and media outlook for 2023-2027 shows that the sector is growing at an annual compound rate of 3.62pc and is expected to reach €6.12bn in 2027. Last year, the size of the sector was €5.12bn.
This is in line with the global growth rate, which PwC projects to be 3.64pc. The global entertainment and media industry saw revenues of more than 2.1trn last year, and this is expected to reach 2.54pc by 2027.
According to the report, the projected growth in Ireland is primarily fuelled by increasing internet access and significant growth in mobile advertising and video on demand subscriptions.
“We have seen robust growth for Ireland in the entertainment and media industry over the past two years following a surge in demand for digital products during Covid-19,” Amy Ball, partner at PwC Ireland entertainment & media practice, said at the launch.
“Increased reliance on mobile and digital technologies, heightened industry competition, an evolving regulatory environment and disruptions posed by new and emerging technologies will create new tensions and possibilities in the years ahead for the sector.”
Growth in the Irish entertainment and media industry comes despite its slower growth forecast in internet advertising, which is 3.7pc compared to the global 6.5pc.
However, internet access in Ireland has a strong forecast period ahead. Revenue from this market is expected at an annual compound rate of 6.5pc from €1.6bn last year to €2.2bn in 2027.
PwC expects the Irish mobile market revenue to “hit a tipping point” next year when it is expected to overtake revenue from the broadband sector for the first time.
“If Irish companies are to retain market share and drive growth, industry leaders will have to be more creative about how they create, distribute and monetise products and services, while remaining cognisant of an evolving global regulatory and geopolitical environment increasingly conscious of data privacy,” Ball added.
Total video games revenue in Ireland is expected to reach €526m by 2027, growing at an annual compound rate of 3.3pc, spurred by the social and casual gaming sector which is overtaking traditional gaming as Ireland’s primary source of video games revenue.
Meanwhile, Irish uptake of metaverse-related technologies is lower than the global average in the PwC report. Only 23pc of Irish consumers have interacted with the metaverse (up from 19pc last year), compared to 34pc globally.
Only 7pc of Irish consumers have used a VR headset to play games, up from 4pc in the previous survey but below the global average of 11pc.
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