You might think 2025 was a tough year for the advertising industry. Budgets were cut, major media categories lost ground, and TV (the dominant medium for decades shed nearly €722 million. Not exactly a climate for growth. And then there is out-of-home advertising. While other media tightened their belts, out-of-home in Germany grew by almost 10%, adding over €320 million in absolute terms — more than any other category. This is not a one-off. It is a trend.
The market in brief
The German advertising market totalled around €35.4 billion in 2025, a slight decline of 0.5% year on year. TV was down 4.2%, cinema down 0.8%. Online and print both grew, but modestly, at 1.6% each. Radio held steady at +0.3%.
OOH, by contrast, closed the year at €3.557 billion. Over the summer, its market share crossed the 10% mark for the first time and held it through to December. Even in December, traditionally TV’s strongest month, out-of-home grew by another 10%. These figures come from the official Nielsen advertising statistics, analysed by B|A|M Bundesverband Aussenmedien e.V.
So what makes OOH so attractive right now? In short: out-of-home advertising reaches people when they are out and about — and let’s face it, that is most of the time. It meets them in their daily lives, on the way to work, while shopping, around the city. Not squeezed between ad breaks or buried in a social media feed.
Digital is the new normal
Even more striking than overall OOH growth is what is driving it. Digital out-of-home, meaning digital screens and displays in public spaces, grew by 26% in 2025. Traditional poster advertising, on the other hand, dipped slightly at -1.5%.
The result: the digital share of total OOH revenue climbed from 41.5% to 47.6%. The 50% milestone is almost within touching distance.
This means that today, almost one in every two euros spent on out-of-home advertising goes into a digital format. And for good reason: DOOH combines the reach of a classic poster with the flexibility of digital advertising. Campaigns can be activated at short notice, adjusted by time of day or weather conditions, and updated at any time. In a market where agility matters, that is a serious advantage.
City Light: the star of the statistics
Within the poster segment — at €2.351 billion the largest area of OOH — City Light formats have clearly taken the lead, posting growth of 24.1%. The format closed the year at €1.164 billion, more than all other poster formats combined when large-format and City Light Board are added together.
This comes as no surprise. City Lights are located where people spend their time: in pedestrian zones, at train stations, at busy junctions. They are at eye level, well lit, and in their digital form as DCLP, dynamically programmable. For anyone looking to be seen in city centres, they are hard to ignore.
Who is investing and why interest keeps growing
Particularly notable is which industries significantly increased their OOH budgets in 2025. Travel and tourism, for example, was up 67.9%. Someone looking to book a summer holiday walks past posters — they do not scroll through an algorithm. Transport and logistics grew by 48.7%, arts and culture by 28.3%, and retail by 16.8%.
The trend is equally clear at company level: REWE increased its OOH budget by 55.6%, Amazon by 33.6%, and ILS by as much as 56.3%. These are not newcomers testing the water, these are household names doubling down on out-of-home.
Stations: advertising in the moment of waiting
Within transport media, advertising at train stations, metro stations and other transport infrastructure, station advertising stands out. At nearly €700 million and growth of 5%, it is the strongest individual segment within transport media.
Anyone who has ever waited for a train knows why it works. Your eyes wander naturally and land on advertising spaces designed precisely for that moment. No smartphone notifications competing for attention, no scrolling past. Just: there, look, register.
Out-of-home in 2026: what to expect
All major media agencies agree: OOH will remain on a growth trajectory. Even as the economic environment becomes more challenging, the outlook for out-of-home advertising remains positive.
Digitalisation will sustain this momentum. DOOH is not just growing, it is fundamentally reshaping the medium, towards greater flexibility, more data-driven targeting, and more opportunities for advertisers of every size. The street has always been the most direct route to people. Now it is becoming the smartest one too.
Data source: Nielsen Wizzad+ / B|A|M Bundesverband Aussenmedien e.V., gross advertising expenditure January–December 2025 (Germany)
Curious how your brand can ride this wave?
Let’s talk, no strings attached.