Five key takeaways:

  • Edelman’s global revenue declined 4.9% to $986 million in 2024, fueled by losses in the US and APAC

  • 2024 was the second consecutive year the firm reported revenue was down

  • The report comes two years after Edelman became the world’s first billion-dollar PR firm

  • In December, Edelman reduced its workforce by 5%, matching its revenue decline

  • The firm reports signs of a turnaround, including five new business wins worth over $1 million in the last six weeks


NEW YORK — Edelman has reported a 4.9% decline in global revenue, dropping to $986 million in 2024, marking the second consecutive down year.

The downturn is largely attributed to reductions in its US and APAC business, alongside notable declines in its three largest sectors: food (-4.4%), health (-3.7%), and technology (-6.2%).

The US market saw a decline of 7.9%, while APAC was down 11.5%. Canada experienced growth of 19.2%, EMEA grew 1.3% and LatAm was up 8.6%.

Notable growth sectors included government services, which grew by 21%, and retail, which increased by 9.4%.

“So basically 2024 was a challenging year, not just for us, but for the whole sector in communications, which was sort of highlighted by Omnicom, by Interpublic, and all of this consolidation,” said global CEO Richard Edelman. “I think a lot of the holding companies are sort of recognizing it's a slower growth category and that they need to consolidate and maybe reduce head count.”  (IPG's PR group grew by 1.3% last year and Omnicom's PR revenue rose 3.7%)

In line with this industry trend, Edelman also reduced its headcount by 5%, matching its revenue decline, and collapsed its sub-brands and government affairs boutique into a single Edelman entity. Laying off  330 people was part of a restructuring that Richard Edelman presented as a “simplification” of the firm’s business model.

Despite the challenges, there are signs of a turnaround. "We’ve won five new business opportunities worth over $1 million in the last six weeks, including a significant contract with the Brazilian government," Edelman said. While sectors like food, health, and tech faced setbacks, retail, public sector, and the creator economy all experienced double-digit growth.

Edelman pointed out the firm celebrated a breakthrough in creative achievements in 2024, winning a Titanium Lion and four Gold Lions at Cannes. "I am optimistic for the future because we understand earned creative in a creator economy," Edelman said.. "We also have the ability to bring in political insight. It’s this combination of the creative side plus the reputation side that brands now need."

Edelman has also made significant strides in artificial intelligence, having built over 400 large language models for client work, he said, The agency's proprietary model, Archie AI, leverages 25 years of trust data to provide real-time recommendations on messaging and trust impact, he said. 

The agency also secured key new clients across various regions, including the Government of Mongolia and Spotify.

While acknowledging the challenges, Edelman said he was unfazed by the loss of  the agency's billion-dollar status.  "It's something to get back to for next year. I just want to be of size and scale enough to be in every market that matters with the expertise to serve clients. I don't care about the number."

The 2024 decline. follows a 3.7% drop in global revenues in 2023, when  Edelman's US revenues plunged 9.1%. That was Edelman's  first calendar year revenue decline since 2020, and only its second since the global financial crisis.

Additional reporting by Paul Holmes