After experiencing the world's steepest decline in 2009, Russia's media and entertainment industry is set to grow 9.3 percent annually over the next five years and reach a value of $25.6 billion by 2014, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released Tuesday.
"The development of Russia's entertainment and media industry corresponds with the world's tendencies, which are expressed through an increased influence of the Internet and a transition to digital technologies," the firm said in a statement.
"Compared with other countries, these processes happen at a much slower pace in Russia due to the specific nature of the Russian market and the fact that in the short-term future there will be some uncertainty over the growth of consumer confidence," the statement said.
The industry's recovery will be driven largely by double-digit increases in Internet advertising, television subscriptions and license fees, Internet access, video games and consumer magazine publishing.
Internet-based segments are set to demonstrate especially strong growth over the period. The Internet-providers market is set to grow 15 percent annually over the next five years, reaching $5.9 billion by 2014 — roughly on par with the country's annual television advertisements market.
In addition, online advertising will see yearly growth of 24.4 percent, making it a $1.69 billion industry by 2014 — or three times its current size.
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