Compare CPM benchmarks by industry, region, and campaign type.
October 2025 - September 2026
Benchmark observations based on the selected data
South Africa’s cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) profile tells a story of much lower absolute costs but far greater month-to-month drama than the global benchmark. Over a 12‑month span South Africa ran well below the global CPM medians, punctuated by sharp spikes in late Q4 and early Q1 and steep troughs in October and June. 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 South Africa compared to the global benchmark.
South Africa’s median CPM averaged roughly $3.33 over July 2025–June 2026, starting at $1.65 in July 2025 and finishing at $0.68 in June 2026 (a net decline of about 59% from start to finish). The local high was $8.19 in February 2026; the low was $0.50 in October 2025. By contrast the global (baseline) medians over the same months averaged about $20.93, with a range from ~$18.81 to ~$24.26.
Monthly movement was pronounced: November–February produced the largest clustered lift (Nov $4.50 → Dec $7.68 → Jan $6.33 → Feb $8.19), then CPMs retraced into March and April before another surge in May and a collapse into June. Volatility is notable — the standard deviation of South Africa’s series is about $2.8 (coefficient of variation ≈ 82%), compared with a baseline standard deviation near $1.9 (CV ≈ 9%). Average absolute month‑to‑month change was roughly $2.30, underscoring how choppy the market was in absolute terms relative to its low baseline.
The rhythm shows a late‑year to early‑year cluster of higher CPMs: Nov→Dec→Jan→Feb registered the most sustained lift across the year. Conversely, October and June were the softest months, each sitting near the series floor. March and April offered temporary normalization before May’s brief uptick and June’s sharp drop. These swings create a pattern where short windows show meaningful cost pressure interspersed with extended low-cost periods.
Relative to the global CPM benchmark, South Africa ran materially lower every month. On average South African CPMs were about 84% below the global medians (SA ≈ $3.33 vs global ≈ $20.93). The gap narrowed in the high months — December–February — where South Africa’s CPMs were roughly 40–60% below global levels (February was the narrowest gap, about 59% below). At the widest gaps (October, August, June) South Africa’s CPMs were roughly 95–97% below the global medians. In short, South Africa showed far lower absolute CPMs but far greater relative volatility than the baseline.
Understanding Facebook Ads CPM benchmarks and broader CPM analysis for All industries in South Africa puts those country-specific ad costs into context alongside global industry ad performance and CPC trends, CPM analysis, and CTR performance narratives.
Facebook advertising cost benchmarks
Cost Per Mille (CPM) is the cost advertisers pay for 1,000 impressions of their Facebook ad. Ad costs vary across industries because of competition, audience demographics, and conversion value. For campaigns targeting South Africa, advertisers should consider local market factors and user behavior. Campaign objectives affect costs because Facebook optimizes delivery for different goals. The data shows median values across multiple campaigns. Results can vary with ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
A small share of campaigns has extremely high CPM values. Those outliers can inflate an average. The median is the midpoint across campaigns, so it better represents a typical result.
The data shows industry median benchmarks. Costs can vary with targeting, creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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The dataset includes over $3B in Facebook ad spend from thousands of ad accounts that use Superads to analyze and improve campaigns. Every data point is anonymized and aggregated. It does not expose an individual advertiser.
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Late November (Black Friday/Cyber Monday), December (Christmas & Day of Goodwill), Mid-year retail (June Youth Day promotions)
CPM and CPC may rise during long weekends such as Human Rights Day, Freedom Day, and Heritage Day as leisure and travel media consumption increases. Retail CPMs may rise in late November–December for holiday shopping. Youth Day and National Women's Day may prompt regional campaigns. Public-holiday weekends may benefit weekend campaigns.
Competition, seasonality, audience size, and ad quality affect CPM. Q4 can cost more. Smaller audiences and lower relevance scores often lead to higher CPMs.
Campaign objectives, bidding strategies, and time of day can change CPM. Conversion campaigns usually have higher CPMs than traffic campaigns, while broad targeting tends to lower CPMs.
In most industries, CPMs range from $5 to $18 depending on the region and objective. Retail and e-comm campaigns often sit at the higher end. Our live data above shows a breakdown by country and industry.
Audience size and targeting both matter. Audience quality, including intent and fit with your offer, usually has more impact than size. Extremely tight audiences can raise CPM because delivery opportunities are limited.
Use CPM for awareness campaigns and CPC or CPA for performance campaigns. A high CPM can increase costs across the funnel.
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