The European online advertising market was worth €11.2bn in 2007, rapidly closing in on US sales of €14.5bn over the same period, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe).

The 2007 figures represent a surge of 40 per cent on the €7.2bn generated during 2006.

Two-thirds of European online ad budgets were spent in the big three markets of the UK, Germany and France.

However, some of the smaller markets saw significant boosts in spending, including Greece (up 91 per cent), Spain (up 55 per cent) and Slovenia (up 49 per cent).

"Despite a slowdown in advertising spend on some traditional media, the rise of online advertising in Europe continues unabated," said Alain Heureux, president of IAB Europe.

"Not only is the growth coming from some of the smaller markets, which are seeing significant increases in their market value, but from more mature countries as companies move their advertising budgets online for the first time. "

The report also calculated the average value of a single internet user to an advertiser in the different markets.

The 2007 European average was €80.60, but Norwegian advertisers spent the most at €133.20 per person, followed by the UK (€120.80) and Denmark (€109.50). In the US advertisers spent an average of €91.9 per person.

"The development of the more mature markets in Europe is a sign of increasing investment from a wider range of advertisers than ever before," said Nicki Lynas, senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which analysed the IAB data.