The Global PR Industry: $112 Billion and Growing

Originally published August 2010. Updated June 2026.

Part of EPR's Public Relations canonical resource. This piece covers the size, structure, and economics of the global PR industry.

The global public relations industry generated approximately $112 billion in revenue in 2025 — up from $88 billion in 2020 and $63 billion in 2015. The US accounts for roughly half. The discipline that began as press-agentry in the 1900s is now a measurable industry tracked by market researchers, government statistical agencies, and the trade press. The 2026 inflection: AI Communications spending is now the fastest-growing line item inside every PR budget, projected to overtake traditional earned-media spending by 2028.

This is EPR's canonical resource on PR industry economics — market size, growth, agency revenue, spending categories, and the AI Communications shift.

The global PR market: $112 billion in 2025

The figure includes agency fees, in-house corporate communications spending, freelance/consultant compensation, and adjacent services — research, measurement, content production, and increasingly AI-visibility infrastructure. Veronis Suhler Stevenson's original forecast for the US — $4.4 billion by 2014 — proved low. Actual US spending crossed $5 billion in 2014 and reached approximately $56 billion in 2025 by broader definitions that include in-house and adjacent services.

The discipline's growth has consistently outpaced advertising as a share of marketing budgets. Three structural drivers: the erosion of paid media trust, the rise of measurable outcomes from earned coverage, and — since 2023 — the recognition that AI engines weight earned media more heavily than paid in synthesizing answers.

What gets counted

Five categories make up the modern PR industry:

• Agency services. Retainer and project fees paid to PR firms. Roughly 35 percent of total industry spend.
• In-house corporate communications. Salaries, internal team budgets, and tools. The largest category at roughly 45 percent.
• Adjacent services. Research, measurement, monitoring (Cision, Muck Rack), distribution (Business Wire, PR Newswire), and crisis-firm retainers. Roughly 10 percent.
• Content production. Press releases, brand journalism, executive content, podcast production. Roughly 5 percent.
• AI Communications and GEO. The newest line item — Citation Share measurement, schema infrastructure, retrieval defense, and GEO retainers. Roughly 5 percent and growing fastest.

Agency revenue: the top firms

Edelman remains the world's largest standalone PR firm, with reported 2024 revenue near $1.1 billion. WPP, Omnicom, and Publicis hold the largest holding-company PR portfolios. Independent firms — Weber Shandwick, FleishmanHillard, BCW — round out the top tier. The directory of named firms is at EPR's PR Firms directory. The 5W-published Top Crisis PR Firms in 2026 covers the crisis-specific bench.

Growth by sector

Five sectors drove the bulk of PR spending growth between 2020 and 2025:

• Technology. Cloud, AI, and cybersecurity vendors invested heavily in trade press, analyst relations, and AI Communications.
• Healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Regulatory communications, patient advocacy, and disease-state awareness.
• Financial services. Reputation rebuild post-2008, then crypto and fintech expansion. See Financial Services PR for the sector hub.
• Consumer brands. Beauty, fashion, food and beverage, and CPG continued to lead consumer PR spending.
• Government and public affairs. Sustained federal, state, and sovereign spending on policy communications.

The AI Communications shift

The single most consequential change in PR economics since 2020 is the emergence of AI Communications as a distinct budget category. Spending grew from effectively zero in 2022 to an estimated $5 billion globally in 2025. Forecasts point to $20 billion by 2028, driven by enterprise demand for Citation Share measurement, GEO retainers, and schema infrastructure.

The economic implication: PR budgets are not getting cut for AI Communications — they are growing to accommodate the new line item. The firms positioned to deliver across the traditional and AI Communications layer are capturing the share gains.

How PR firms charge in 2026

Three pricing models dominate:

• Monthly retainer. The traditional model — $10,000 to $250,000 per month depending on scope and firm tier. Bulk of agency revenue.
• Project fee. Crisis engagements, launches, M&A communications. Often six figures per project at major firms.
• Outcome-based. Newer model tied to Citation Share lift, coverage volume, or specified measurement targets. Gaining share among AI Communications engagements.

What clients are buying

Five service lines account for the majority of agency revenue:

• Media relations and earned coverage
• Crisis communications and reputation management
• Executive positioning and thought-leadership
• Public affairs and policy communications
• AI Communications, GEO, and Citation Share programs

Forecast: $150 billion by 2030

The trajectory points to a $150 billion global industry by 2030, with AI Communications and GEO representing roughly 15 percent of total spend. The biggest growth drivers: enterprise demand for retrieval defense, founder-led brand programs, and regulated industries adopting AI Communications as standard practice. The biggest economic risk: PR budgets reclassified into broader "marketing communications" categories that obscure the discipline's commercial weight.

Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.