Budget
There has been a sizable drop in IR budgets this year, with the average global IR budget now standing at $329,000. This represents a 16 percent fall in IR budgets from $393,000 in 2019, meaning that global IR budgets in 2020 are 84 percent of the 2019 total.
While this fall in IR budgets can be explained by the unique circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, it is part of a larger drop in budgets over time. IR budgets have shrunk by a third over the past five years, with the $329,000 global average in 2020 contrasting sharply with almost half a million dollars in 2015.
According to company size, IR budgets range from an average of $193,000 among small-cap companies to $715,000 among mega-caps, representing a difference in budget amounts of more than $500,000. Budgets have fallen at every cap size, the biggest drop being among mid-cap companies where they have shrunk by almost a quarter since 2019.
The percentage of IR budgets spent on external services has also fallen from 33 percent in 2019 to 30 percent in 2020. This means the global average IR spend on outsourcing is now just under $100,000.