Direct mail grew 1.4% in the first quarter and outdoor advertising jumped 13.3% as advertisers faced a depressed economy and the then build up and uncertainty surrounding the looming war in Iraq.
All other media covered by the survey recorded falls in expenditure of between 1% and 6.1%, with television falling 1.3%. Overall, adspend did rise 1.5% on last year, but the fall becomes apparent after adjusting for inflation.
The figures from the Advertising Association's Quarterly Survey of Advertising Expenditure confirm figures published earlier this year by ZenithOptimedia, which predicted an overall "absence of recovery" in worldwide adspend.
The media agency revised down growth estimates for overall adspend in Europe from 1.8% in December to 0.4% in the five biggest markets -- the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Newspapers and magazines have been badly hit and are all well down on last year. Worst hit were business magazines, which fell 6.1% year on year to £225m and consumer magazines down 5.1% to £180m.
Regional newspapers put in a better performance than the national press, falling 2.4% to £736m while national newspapers fell 5.3% to £494m.
Overall in the press market, display advertising was down 5.9% to £868m while the classified market fell 2% to £766m.
The AA's Quarterly Survey of Advertising Expenditure is available on annual subscription (price £550 for AA members, £695 for non-members). The research was carried out and compiled by the World Advertising Research Center.
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