The State of the Affiliate Nation 2026 will be released in April. The report assesses the size, scale and scope of the UK affiliate industry’s performance. Let’s revisit some of the key insights from last year’s report.
The 2025 edition confirmed a consistent picture of where investment sits across the market and where growth is emerging.
Retail remains the UK affiliate market’s largest investor
Affiliate marketing is often viewed as a channel dominated by retail. That perception isn’t unfounded, as more than 90% of programmes are ecommerce-based.
However, the data also shows that the channel’s appeal extends well beyond retail, with a growing range of sectors increasing their investment.
Retail continues to lead overall spend, accounting for 48% of total investment in 2024; approximately £1 out of every £2 invested in affiliate marketing.
This proportion has remained stable over recent years (49% in 2023 and 48% in 2024), reflecting both the scale of ecommerce activity and the volume of retail affiliate programmes operating in the UK.
Beyond retail:
- Telecoms, utilities and services is the second-largest sector, contributing 18%
- Travel accounts for 15%
- Finance and insurance represents 10%
- The remaining 9% sits within an ‘other’ category
The ‘other’ category includes sectors such as education, media and B2B. Growth within this group should be interpreted with caution given the diversity of industries it contains. More granular breakdowns of this segment are planned for future reporting.
All sectors increased investment in 2024
Every major industry increased its investment in affiliate marketing between 2023 and 2024.
Using 2023 as an index baseline:
- Finance and insurance recorded the fastest growth (index 1.35)
- Travel grew strongly (1.12)
- Retail increased by 7% (1.07)
- Telecoms, utilities and services saw more modest growth (1.05)
- Other sectors also increased (1.05)
While finance and insurance grew fastest proportionally, retail delivered the largest growth in absolute terms, reflecting its scale within the overall market.
Broad adoption
Taken together, the findings point to a market with a stable retail foundation, but with increasing adoption across sectors that hold their own.
Finance, travel and service-based industries are continuing to expand their use of affiliate and partner marketing as a scalable, performance-led growth channel, highlighting that the opportunity extends well beyond traditional ecommerce.
The 2026 State of the Nation report, due for release on April 30th, will provide the latest data on UK market performance, sector trends and the strategic priorities shaping the channel.
