Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
June 2025 - June 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
The headline: cost-per-click for all industries in Great Britain ran slightly above the global baseline with sharper swings and a pronounced December spike. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for all industries in Great Britain compared to the global benchmark.
Great Britain’s CPC began the 12‑month window at about £0.96 in June 2025 and closed at roughly £1.03 in May 2026 — a net increase of about 7%. The monthly median CPC averaged £1.11 across the year, with a low of £0.92 in April and a high of £1.50 in December. By contrast the global benchmark averaged £1.06 over the same months.
Notable moves: July through September saw a run of higher-than-average CPCs in Great Britain (peaking at £1.30 in September), followed by an October dip near £1.00 and then a dramatic jump to the year’s high in December (£1.50). Early 2026 settled closer to the £1.00 mark (January–March), with the softest reading in April before a modest lift into May.
Volatility was material: month‑to‑month standard deviation for Great Britain was about £0.17 (roughly 15% of the mean), compared with a baseline volatility near £0.09. That makes Great Britain roughly twice as volatile as the global sample over this period.
A clear seasonal rhythm emerges. Summer to early autumn (July–September) produced elevated CPCs, then a short mid‑autumn cooling in October, and a sharp year‑end escalation in December. The December median (£1.50) was nearly 50% higher than the baseline December median (£1.01), marking the single largest divergence. Q1 settled into narrower ranges around £1.00, with April representing the trough at £0.92 and May showing a mild rebound.
These monthly swings show a pattern where peaks are clustered in late Q3 and Q4, and troughs appear in late Q1 to early Q2 — a rhythm that creates pronounced seasonal noise within the year.
Across the twelve months Great Britain’s average CPC was about £1.11 versus the global £1.06 — roughly 5% higher overall. But that headline hides range effects: some months Great Britain ran well below the global level (June was ~10% lower; April ~14% lower), while other months were meaningfully above (December ~49% above; September ~22% above). The gap tightest in November (only a few percent below baseline) and widest in December.
In volatility terms Great Britain is more volatile than the baseline, with monthly swings that are about twice as large on average. The global trend was comparatively steadier, while Great Britain showed sharper lifts and declines.
Understanding CPC trends for all industries in Great Britain provides a data‑grounded view of country‑specific ad costs within broader Facebook Ads benchmarks, useful for comparing industry ad performance and CPC trends against global CPM analysis and CTR performance trends across markets.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. Different industries see varying ad costs due to market competition, user demographics, and conversion value. For campaigns targeting United Kingdom, advertisers experience moderate to high costs with strong performance in urban areas. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
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Late November (Black Friday/Cyber Monday surge), Late December (Christmas & Boxing Day promotions), Early May holiday weekend promotions
CPM and CPC might increase around early May and late August bank holidays as people engage in leisure travel or retail browsing. During Black Friday/Cyber Monday, retail CPMs could spike sharply in fashion, electronics, and online shopping. Late December typically sees peak CPMs, with e‑commerce budgets needing early ramp-up.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
Average cost per purchase benchmarks across industries
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