The figure is significantly lower than that forecast by rival media group Carat, which said in July that it was expecting advertising revenues in the UK to rise by 4.1%. A further forecast by ZenithOptimedia pegged growth at 3.7% for Western Europe this year.
Whichever forecast ends up being accurate, they are all more optimistic than 2006, when growth in adspend was just 1.4%.
OPera has revised its 2007 forecast up from an initial figure of 3%, which it published in November last year. This was down to an increase in company profitability in the fourth quarter of last year.
Breaking the market down by sector, the internet will maintain its position as the fastest-growing medium, rising by 25% in 2007.
Magazine advertising revenue is forecast to rise by 2%. OPera said that launches such as IPC's Look magazine, which appeared in February, showed that the industry still believes magazines have a future.
There was also good news for television, which OPera said had exceeded expectations by remaining static, instead of falling by the 2.9% that it had forecast previously. However, the news for cinema was not so good, with ad revenues forecast to be down by 3%, despite record numbers of cinema admissions in July.
Outdoor advertising is forecast to rise by 5.5% for the year; radio revenues are forecast to be flat. And finally, although newspaper ad volume is up by 1.5%, OPera said that it did not expect ad revenues to be on par.
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