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Get Matched for FreePick an Agency · Annual Report · 2026
Everything we know about the global agency market, in one report — built from 129,000+ indexed agency profiles and 4.2M+ aggregated reviews across 90+ countries. Each finding links to the full study with charts, raw distributions and methodology.
The 9 numbers that define 2026
38%
of all marketing agencies on Earth are in North America
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½
of active agencies were founded after 2015 — the 2020–24 cohort alone is ~30% of the market
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62%
of agencies have fewer than 5 people on staff — boutiques are the norm, not the exception
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85%
of agencies offer 3 or fewer services — "full-service" is largely a myth
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60%+
of listed agencies hold a perfect 5.0 rating — industry-wide rating inflation is real
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4.2×
more agencies per capita in Estonia than in the United States
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+14%
São Paulo has more agencies than New York — the real top-city ranking isn't the one you'd guess
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0.7★
gap between how Brazilian and German clients rate the same kind of work — culture moves ratings
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1.6×
more specialist agencies target e-commerce than SaaS
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Chapter 1
The agency market is global but lopsided. North America holds 38% of all agencies; São Paulo — not New York — is the single biggest agency city; and adjusted for population, small digital-first economies like Estonia dominate.
Chapter 2
Half of all agencies alive today didn't exist a decade ago. The 2020–2024 window is the biggest five-year founding surge on record — driven by the creator economy, COVID-era brand retooling, and no-code ad tooling collapsing the cost of launching a shop.
Chapter 3
Forget the Madison Avenue mental model. The typical agency is a boutique: 62% have fewer than five people, 85% offer three or fewer services, and specialists cluster around e-commerce far more than any other vertical.
Chapter 4
More than 60% of listed agencies hold a perfect 5.0 — which is precisely why a perfect score alone means little. Ratings also vary by culture (Brazilian clients rate ~0.7★ higher than German ones) and by service line, which is why volume-weighted, source-attributed reviews matter.
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