The figure for direct mail, which only includes mailouts and not doordrops nor other forms of direct marketing, means it is forecast to be the slowest-growing medium for 2005.
Colin Macleod, research director at the World Advertising Research Center, which carried out the survey for the AA, said that one of the reasons for the decline was a cut in financial services companies doing mass mailings and switching to more targeted campaigns.
"Partly it is a shift to other media, but it's also because direct mail has seen five or 10 years of growing quite fast, especially in the downturn of 2001, and now things are beginning to level out. I don't see it as a long-term problem," Macleod said.
Internet adspend is once again set to see more growth than any other medium this year, with the AA forecasting a rise of more than a third in real terms.
Television is forecast to rise 4.8%, ahead of last year's growth in real terms of 4%. Outdoor advertising, a star performer last year, is set for another strong year with growth of 6.2%, and radio will see adspend increase by 3.4%.
Annual % change in advertising expenditure by medium
National newspapers 2.6
Regional newspapers 3.0
Consumer magazines 2.3
Business magazines 1.7
Total press 2.6
- of which display 2.3
- of which classified 2.9
Television 4.8
Radio 3.4
Outdoor 6.2
Cinema 5.8
Internet 33.2
Direct mail 0.9
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