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Spending on television adverts fell for the first time in five years during 2006, new figures have shown.

In the last year total expenditure on TV ads, which includes production costs, advertising agency fees and commissioning, slumped 4.7 per cent to £4,594 million.

According to the Advertising Association, which released today's statistics ahead of its yearbook publication next month, £19 billion was spent on ads in Britain during 2006 overall.

Of this total press advertising accounted for 43.7 per cent of spending, while television and direct mail made up 24.1 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively.

"The press sector as a whole declined by 2.7 per cent, with regional newspapers, consumer magazines and business magazines all suffering decreased levels of adspend last year compared with 2005," a spokesperson for the group said.

"However, not all press sectors saw falls in expenditure, as adspend in directories grew by 3.8 per cent to £1,174 million at current prices, while national newspapers rose marginally to £1,914 million."

But as outlay on TV, radio and direct mail adverts shrunk, expenditure on internet ads exceeded ten per cent of total spending for the first-ever time (£2,016 million).