Spending on mobile ads now accounts for €1 in every €3 spent on digital advertising, according to new figures from industry group IAB Ireland and PwC.

Mobile advertising grew by 132 per cent last year as the Irish advertising market followed consumers’ migration to smartphone devices.

Suzanne McElligott, IAB Ireland’s chief executive, described the surge in mobile advertising as “dramatic”.

Overall, the Irish digital advertising market grew 34 per cent last year to a high of €263 million.

Paid-for search advertising has grown by 43 per cent year-on-year and remains the dominant digital format. Paid-for search accounts for 52 per cent of total online adspend at €137 million.

Some €99 million was spent on digital display ads, up 35 per cent on the year before. Display ads account for 38 per cent of total digital spend.

Growth in the display category was driven by the strong performance of display ads on social media platforms, with this adspend increasing 108 per cent to €28.5 million, and in expenditure on digital video ads, which swelled 63 per cent to €14.3 million.

Online classified advertising online held a 10 per cent share of total online adspend at €27 million.

The rate of increase in the digital advertising market is likely to slow down in the years ahead. Media agency Carat predicts a 16 per cent increase in digital advertising spend this year, while Mindshare Ireland forecasts 14 per cent growth.

PwC predicts that the market will grow by 12 per cent per annum on average in the period 2013-2018.