UK digital ad spend grew at its fastest rate in seven years to more than £8.6bn in 2015, as the market continues to boom despite the rising spectre of of widespread ad-blocking.

UK advertisers spent a record £8.61bn in all forms of digital advertising last year, a rise of 16.4% and the highest rate of growth since 2008, according to the latest report by the Internet Advertising Bureau conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The driver of growth was advertising on mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones, which surged by 60% year on year to £2.63bn and accounted for almost 80% of all the growth in the UK ad market.

The second fastest-growing segment was video advertising, which jumped by 51% to £711m.

There was also 50% growth in native and branded content, up to £776m, and a 45% rise in social media ad spend to £1.25bn.

The digital display ad market, which includes banner ads and video, which some observers believe is facing a growing threat from consumers installing ad-blocking software, showed no signs of a major slowdown growing 24.5% year on year to £3.03bn.

The Internet Advertising Bureau said the surge in growth of the UK digital ad market was in part fuelled by a rise in the number of internet-connected devices in each UK home, such as phones, laptops and smart TVs, up 12% to an average of 8.3 per home.

“The increasing array of devices through which people go online has helped digital ad spend hit another gear as advertisers look to reach them and time spent online increases,” said Tim Elkington, chief strategy officer at IAB UK. “Smartphones are the main driving force behind this as people increasingly use them for activities they used to do on desktop computers, from searching and shopping to social and watching video.”