Aegis-owned Carat has updated its previous September 2007 forecast, adjusting its figures for 2008 and supplying its first estimates for 2009.
It has put the UK's 2009 growth rate at 6.3%, at odds with WPP Group chief executive .
Sorrell said that 2009 would be the year when the advertising industry will be hit by a downturn, following the uplifting quadrennial effect of the Olympics, European football championships and US presidential elections.
However, Carat does expect the US and many other countries to see a slowdown in adspend growth. It has lowered its global 2008 growth estimate from 6.2% to 6% and has put its 2009 estimate at 4.9%.
Its US 2008 forecast has dropped from 4.1% to 3.8% and it expects 2009 to finish at 2.6%.
Mainardo de Nardis, chief executive of Aegis Media, said: "Thanks to one-off events like the Beijing Olympics and the US Presidential elections, we are predicting strong global growth in adspend for this year, up to 6% from 4.6% in 2007.
"Overall, our forecasts for 2009 are more conservative than those for 2008, but we do not foresee a severe slowdown in global spend as a result of the last six months' financial uncertainty."
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