Top 10 Global PR Agency Ranking 2022

2022	2021	Agency	HQ	Fee Income 2021 ($)	Fee Income 2020 ($)	Growth vs 2020 (Constant Currency)	Growth vs 2019 (Constant Currency)
1	1	Edelman ^nb	USA	984,921,000	840,022,000	17.2%	10.4%
2	2	Weber Shandwick ^nb	USA	860,000,000	820,000,000	4.9%	-0.6%
3	3	BCW	USA	772,000,000	715,000,000	8.0%	4.3%
4	4	FleishmanHillard ^nb	USA	680,000,000	615,000,000	10.6%	12.4%
5	5	Ketchum ^nb	USA	550,000,000	500,000,000	10.0%	2.8%
6	6	Brunswick	UK	490,185,000	367,160,000	35.5%	43.0%
7	9	Real Chemistry	USA	475,000,000	360,000,000	31.9%	114.0%
8	16	Finsbury Glover Hering ^nb	USA	394,000,000	334,000,000	18.0%	78.3%
9	7	MSL	France	387,000,000	365,000,000	6.0%	6.0%
10	10	Hill+Knowlton Strategies	USA	370,000,000	345,000,000	7.2%	2.8%

2022

2021

Agency

Fee Income
2021 ($)

Fee Income
2020 ($)

Growth vs 2020
(Constant Currency)

Growth vs 2019
(Constant Currency)

Edelman ^nb

USA

984,921,000

840,022,000

17.2%

10.4%

Weber Shandwick ^nb

USA

860,000,000

820,000,000

4.9%

-0.6%

BCW

USA

772,000,000

715,000,000

8.0%

4.3%

FleishmanHillard ^nb

USA

680,000,000

615,000,000

10.6%

12.4%

Ketchum ^nb

USA

550,000,000

500,000,000

10.0%

2.8%

Brunswick

490,185,000

367,160,000

35.5%

43.0%

Real Chemistry

USA

475,000,000

360,000,000

31.9%

114.0%

Finsbury Glover Hering ^nb

USA

394,000,000

334,000,000

18.0%

78.3%

MSL

France

387,000,000

365,000,000

6.0%

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

USA

370,000,000

345,000,000

7.2%

2.8%

Global PR Agency Rankings 2022: Top 10 Surges 13%

Rankings: Top 10 | Top 250 | Fast Movers | Holding Groups / Networks
Analysis: Global PR Industry Bounces Back With 11% Growth

The global PR industry's top 10 firms bounced back in fine style in 2021, after declining by 3% in 2020. This year's top 10 group reports fee income of $6bn, up 13% on 2020 ($5.29bn), demonstrating again that diversification not only mitigated the worst of the pandemic, but helped power a healthy recovery in 2021.

Beyond the headline figures, though, there are some notable events that shape the composition and growth of the world's 10 biggest PR firms. Chief amongst these is probably the performance submitted by the biggest of them all, Edelman, which recorded 17% growth to close in on becoming the first $1bn PR firm.

Edelman was one of six agencies to report double-digit growth in 2021, alongside Omnicom duo FleishmanHillard and Ketchum (both +10%) and independent corporate powerhouse Brunswick. The latter firm grew 36% in 2021 and is now up 43% compared to its 2019 revenue, solidifying its hold on sixth place behind a top five that saw no positional changes.

The double-digit expansion recorded by Real Chemistry (+32%) and Finsbury (+18%) in 2021 also serves as another key trend to emerge from this year's top 10. Real Chemistry moves up from ninth to seventh after a string of acquisitions, while Finsbury Glover Hering enters the top 10 for the first time in its history following last year's merger with Sard Verbinnen, which itself came after the 2020 combination of the three WPP firms.

With MSL dropping to ninth and H+K Strategies remaining static at tenth, that means that BlueFocus drops out of the top 10. The Chinese communications giant declined 1.3% in constant currency terms, after selling a majority stake in its international operations.

All growth figures are on a reported (rather than organic) basis. Overall, we estimate that the top 10 global PR firms generated fee income of around $6bn. A fuller picture of global PR industry size is provided by the analysis of our Global Top 250, based on submissions from almost 400 PR firms from across the world.

Date: 15 May 2022

Rankings: Top 10 | Top 250 | Fast Movers | Holding Groups / Networks
Analysis: Global PR Industry Bounces Back With 11% Growth