Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
January 2025 - January 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Great Britain’s cost-per-click (CPC) told a lively story over the past 13 months: a soft start, a choppy middle, and a decisive Q4 surge that pushed local costs well above the market. On average, Facebook Ads CPC in Great Britain landed at roughly £1.17, about 6% higher than the £1.11 global benchmark. But the headline is volatility. Month-to-month movement in Great Britain averaged 0.33 points, over four times the global swing of 0.07, with December’s spike standing out as the defining moment.
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.
CPC in Great Britain opened at £0.79 in January 2025 and closed at £1.37 in January 2026, a 73% lift. The year’s low arrived in January (£0.79), while the high hit in December (£1.85), creating a wide £1.05 range. The monthly path was jagged: an early climb into March (£1.15), a dip in April (£0.97), a midsummer lift to July (£1.27), another pullback in October (£0.90), and then a strong Q4 acceleration—£1.33 in November, then the December peak of £1.85. The largest month-over-month jump came in December (+0.52), followed by a sharp correction into January 2026 (−0.47). Across the period, Great Britain averaged £1.17, with the most active swings clustered around late Q3 and Q4.
Seasonally, Great Britain ran light in Q1 (average £1.02), steadied in late spring and early summer, and then oscillated through late summer before rallying into the holidays. October was notably soft (£0.90), a trough that set up the Q4 surge: November rose strongly and December delivered the peak. That rhythm aligns directionally with typical end-of-year competition, though the magnitude in Great Britain was outsized. In contrast, January 2026 did not fully reset; at £1.37, CPC remained elevated versus earlier-year levels, suggesting momentum carried past the holiday period.
Relative to the global Facebook Ads benchmarks, Great Britain toggled between under- and over-market pricing. It trailed by 29% in January 2025 and 15–20% in April, June, and October. The gap narrowed to near-parity in March and November (within about 1%). From summer onward, Great Britain more often ran above the market: +16% in July, +23% in September, +76% in December, and +63% in January 2026. On a full-year view, 2025 CPC averaged £1.16 in Great Britain versus £1.13 globally (+2%), but Q4 told a different story—£1.36 vs. £1.16 (+17%). While the global trend was relatively steady with a November uptick and December/January easing, Great Britain was markedly more volatile and finished well above global levels.
Understanding Facebook Ads cost-per-click benchmarks for all industries in Great Britain—set against the global CPC trends—helps quantify country-specific ad costs, seasonality, and volatility. This CPC analysis anchors industry ad performance in Great Britain within a clear global context.
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:
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Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
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