Marketing budgets in Asia Pacific plummeted in August, hitting their lowest point this year, a report from international marketing and ad tracking body Warc found.

Warc’s ‘Global Marketing Index’ (GMI) fell 4.7 points in a month to 46 in APAC, on a scale where scores over 50 points show conditions are improving, while a score below 50 reflects the opposite.

Globally, based on data from a panel of 1225 marketing executives, the August reading for marketing budgets was down 1.4 points to 46.1, driven down by APAC and Europe. Investment in marketing has dropped in eight of the 11 months since the first edition of the GMI was published in September last year.

“Marketers in Asia Pacific and Europe are reducing budgets,” says Suzy Young, Warc’s data editor. “In the months ahead, it will be interesting to see if the sudden dip for Asia Pacific is representative of a more deep-rooted downturn.”

Europe continues to be the most negative region charted in the study, languishing on 40.9 points. By contrast, the Americas was the strongest on 53.5 points with a slight improvement over the current period.

When cut by channel, marketing budget allocation towards digital media come through strongly. Digital, excluding mobile, sits in the strongest position, on 74.4 points, with mobile a close second on 69.2 points. Traditional channels showed declining focus – press fared the worst on 34.1 points, followed by radio, on 41 points, outdoor on 44.7 points, and TV on 46.2 points.

Globally, the current business climate rated at 54.4 points, a gain of 2.5 points month on month. The Americas had the best returns on 60.2 points, beating APAC’s 54 and Europe’s 50.6.