The out-of-home industry has posted a 1.8% increase in revenue in 2012, compared to 2011, despite a drop in revenue in the last quarter of the year.

The industry’s net revenue for 2012 was $503.3m, up from 494.6m in 2011.

Strong growth in the first two quarters of the year – 4% and 2% respectively, compared to the same quarters in 2011 – was followed by huge growth in the third quarter, of 6.5%. Net revenue for the last quarter was down by 4.5%, from $152.1m in 2011 to $145.7m.

Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of the Outdoor Media Association (pictured), said: “We are incredibly proud of the resilience our industry has shown through a tight economic climate. Despite a comparatively small drop in revenue in quarter four, we mustn’t forget that this follows 11 consecutive quarters of strong growth for the OOH industry – a solid performance unmatched by any other traditional media.”

Figures from the industry’s measurement tool MOVE (Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure) showed an increase of 13% in total daily contacts in 2012, up from 299 million in 2011 to 338 million.

Moldrich added: “MOVE has been instrumental in proving that OOH reaches consumers frequently in a very cost-effective way. We continue to update and improve MOVE with the next major data update due for release in early March this year.”