Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
January 2025 - January 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Australia’s Facebook Ads cost-per-click sits consistently below the global benchmark for most of the year, tracking the same seasonal slope but at leaner price points—until a sharp November surge breaks pattern. Across all industries in Australia, CPC trends are steady through mid-year, dip in early Q4, then spike hard into November before resetting lower in December. Volatility is meaningfully higher than the global average, driven by that outsized Q4 swing rather than choppy behavior month to month.
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 Australia compared to the global benchmark.
Australia’s CPC opened 2025 at $0.90 in January and closed at $0.85 in December, a modest 5% decline across the year. The median averaged $1.00, ranging from a low of $0.82 in February to a high of $1.53 in November. The year’s rhythm was measured: early softness in February ($0.82), a spring lift through May ($1.15), a reset in June ($0.86), and a stable Q3 around the dollar mark ($0.93–$1.00). The standout moment came in November, when CPC jumped 73% month over month from October ($0.88 to $1.53), before falling 44% into December ($0.85).
Volatility in Australia averaged $0.21 in absolute month-to-month movement—over three times the global benchmark’s $0.06—reflecting a largely calm year punctuated by a November spike.
The pattern follows familiar paid social seasonality. Q1 was soft (January–February trough, March rebound). Q2 strengthened, peaking in May before dropping into June. Q3 was remarkably even, with CPC hovering just under $1.00. Q4 split in two: October stayed muted, November surged to the annual high, and December fell back to one of the lowest price points of the year. This mirrors the broader tendency for competition and country-specific ad costs to intensify in late Q4, with pricing pressure easing immediately after peak spending moments.
Against the global Facebook Ads benchmarks, Australia ran cheaper in 11 of 12 months. Australia’s $1.00 average CPC was about 12% below the $1.13 global average. The gap was widest in February (Australia 28% below global) and narrowest in May (virtually at parity, 0%–1% below). November was the lone month above market: Australia’s $1.53 exceeded the global $1.32 by roughly 16%.
Trendlines were directionally similar—both started the year higher and ended lower—yet Australia’s path was choppier due to November. The annual range underscores the difference: Australia’s spread spanned $0.71 ($0.82–$1.53) versus the global range of $0.26 ($1.06–$1.32), emphasizing more pronounced swings in country-level pricing even when the broader market stayed contained.
In short, Facebook Ads cost-per-click benchmarks for all industries in Australia indicate below-market CPCs most of the year, with a notable Q4 surge and quick December reset. For performance marketers comparing CPC trends, CTR performance context, and country-specific ad costs, these Australia results provide a clear reference point against the global benchmark.
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 Australia, advertisers typically see good engagement rates despite moderate costs. 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.
Improve your Facebook ad performance
• Instant performance insights – See which ads, audiences, and creatives drive results.
• Data-driven creative decisions – Spot patterns to improve ROAS.
• Effortless reporting – No spreadsheets, just clear insights.
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.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
Late December (Christmas and Boxing Day), Early December (Cyber Monday), January (Back-to-school), May (Mother's Day)
Ad costs could spike around major holidays, especially Easter, Anzac Day, and Christmas. Increased budgets and earlier scheduling may be necessary. Retailers should consider planning promotions around back-to-school and Mother's Day to maximize campaign effectiveness.
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
See how much it costs to get users to install an app