Merck advertising spend, FY2025

Merck (MRK) reported $2.3B of advertising expense for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025. That is 3.5% of revenue of $65B. Down 4.2% from FY2024.

Ad spend, FY2025
$2.3B
year ended Dec 31, 2025
Change vs prior year
-4.2%
vs FY2024
Share of revenue
3.5%
of $65B revenue
Rank by ad spend
#28
of 336 companies

Key facts

  • Ad spend is 1.1x its FY2015 level ($2.1B).
  • The highest year on file is FY2011 at $3.1B; FY2025 is 26% below it.
  • Largest increase +11.1% in FY2021; largest cut -10.7% in FY2013.
  • Ad spend is 3.5% of revenue, down from 4.3% in FY2020.
  • Merck spends more on advertising than 92% of the 336 US-listed companies tracked. Its ad-to-revenue ratio is below the median of 5.2%.

Ad spend by fiscal year

$0 $1B $2B $3B $4B FY2011 (ended 2011-12-31): $3.1B 2011 FY2012 (ended 2012-12-31): $2.8B FY2013 (ended 2013-12-31): $2.5B 2013 FY2014 (ended 2014-12-31): $2.3B FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): $2.1B 2015 FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): $2.1B FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): $2.2B 2017 FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): $2.1B FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): $1.9B 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): $1.8B FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): $2B 2021 FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): $2.2B FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): $2.3B 2023 FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): $2.4B FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): $2.3B 2025 $2.3B

Ad spend as % of revenue

0% 2% 4% 6% FY2011 (ended 2011-12-31): n/a 2011 FY2012 (ended 2012-12-31): n/a FY2013 (ended 2013-12-31): n/a 2013 FY2014 (ended 2014-12-31): n/a FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): n/a 2015 FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): 5.3% FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): 5.5% 2017 FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): 5.0% FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): 4.9% 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): 4.3% FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): 4.1% 2021 FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): 3.7% FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): 3.8% 2023 FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): 3.7% FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): 3.5% 2025 3.5%

History

Download CSV
Fiscal year Period end Ad spend YoY Revenue Ad / revenue Tag Filing
FY2025 Dec 31, 2025 $2.3B -4.2% $65B 3.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 24, 2026
FY2024 Dec 31, 2024 $2.4B +4.3% $64.2B 3.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 24, 2026
FY2023 Dec 31, 2023 $2.3B +4.5% $60.1B 3.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 24, 2026
FY2022 Dec 31, 2022 $2.2B +10.0% $59.3B 3.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 25, 2025
FY2021 Dec 31, 2021 $2B +11.1% $48.7B 4.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 26, 2024
FY2020 Dec 31, 2020 $1.8B -5.3% $41.5B 4.3% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 24, 2023
FY2019 Dec 31, 2019 $1.9B -9.5% $39.1B 4.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 25, 2022
FY2018 Dec 31, 2018 $2.1B -4.5% $42.3B 5.0% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 25, 2021
FY2017 Dec 31, 2017 $2.2B +4.8% $40.1B 5.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 26, 2020
FY2016 Dec 31, 2016 $2.1B 0.0% $39.8B 5.3% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 27, 2019
FY2015 Dec 31, 2015 $2.1B -8.7% n/a n/a AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 27, 2018
FY2014 Dec 31, 2014 $2.3B -8.0% n/a n/a AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 28, 2017
FY2013 Dec 31, 2013 $2.5B -10.7% n/a n/a AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 26, 2016
FY2012 Dec 31, 2012 $2.8B -9.7% n/a n/a AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 27, 2015
FY2011 Dec 31, 2011 $3.1B n/a n/a n/a AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 27, 2014

What the figure is

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Compared with similar spenders

The 6 companies closest to Merck in latest-year ad spend.

Rank Company Ad spend Ad / revenue YoY Fiscal year
27 AMD $2.4B 6.9% +100.0% FY2025
28 Merck $2.3B 3.5% -4.2% FY2025
29 Bank of America $2.2B 1.9% +12.7% FY2025
30 Baidu $2.2B 11.9% +15.8% FY2025
31 Intuit $2.2B 10.3% +4.8% FY2026
32 Uber $2.2B 4.2% +15.8% FY2025
33 AbbVie $2.1B 3.4% 0.0% FY2025

Full ranking of 336 companies · Biggest cuts #59

Questions

How much does Merck spend on advertising?

Merck spent $2.3B on advertising in fiscal 2025, the year ended Dec 31, 2025, according to its 10-K filed Feb 24, 2026.

What percentage of revenue does Merck spend on advertising?

3.5% of revenue in fiscal 2025 ($2.3B of $65B). The median across the 336 companies tracked is 5.2%.

Is Merck spending more on advertising?

No. Ad spend fell 4.2% in fiscal 2025 from fiscal 2024.

How does Merck rank by advertising spend?

#28 of 336 US-listed companies with $100M or more in ad spend, ranked on each company's latest fiscal year.

What does Merck's advertising figure include?

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Source

Filing
10-K for FY2025, filed Feb 24, 2026
Accession number
0000310158-26-000063
Company
Merck & Co., Inc., CIK 310158, SIC 2834 (Pharmaceutical Preparations)
Data
SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, retrieved Nov 4, 2026. Methodology.
Cite
Merck advertising spend, FY2011-FY2025. Aleksei Trudov, io.trudov.com, from SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (latest: 10-K filed Feb 24, 2026), retrieved Nov 4, 2026. https://io.trudov.com/company/merck/advertising-spend/
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CSV, all years · CSV, all 336 companies