UK brands invested £1.8 billion in affiliate and partner marketing in 2025, a 7.3% year-on-year increase that generated £20.7 billion in revenues — an ROI of 15X, rising to 19X in travel and retail. Those figures come from the third edition of the Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association's State of the Affiliate Nation report, published 7 May 2026, which aggregates data from 11 affiliate networks, including impact.com.

The headline numbers mask a more interesting shift underneath: both spend and revenue grew 7.3% on only a small increase in transaction volume, which points to rising average order values rather than traffic inflation. The APMA attributes this to the channel's performance heritage — publisher models built on helping consumers make better purchasing decisions while saving money continue to convert even as household budgets tighten.

What does the transaction data show?

The report tracked 357 million transactions through affiliate links in 2025 — roughly 41,000 per hour. Cyber Weekend intensified the channel's share of commerce: £1 in every £7 spent online during that period tracked through an affiliate link, up from £1 in every £8 in 2024.

Sector-level detail from the aggregated network data:

• Retail took 47% of all affiliate spend, the largest share of any vertical. Comparison shopping services spend rose 18% year-on-year, and health & beauty revenues grew by the same amount.
• Travel posted spend up 14% and revenues up 10%.
• Telecoms affiliates delivered 1 million new customers per month, with price comparison sites taking 43% of sector spend — four times the sector average for that publisher type. Content claimed 23% of telecoms affiliate budgets.
• Finance spend ran at £10 million per month, up 9% year-on-year, with content publishers capturing the largest share at 31%.

By publisher model, cashback, card-linked offers and rewards drove the biggest share of sales, while voucher partners delivered an ROI of 24X — the highest model-level figure in the report.

Is last-click CPA losing its grip?

Arguably, yes — and this is the structural story for anyone negotiating program terms. The APMA flags a market maturing beyond last-click CPA, with advertisers deploying affiliate touchpoints across the customer journey rather than only at conversion. Tenancy arrangements are expanding, and content- and comparison-led models are gaining ground. During 2025, close to £1 in every £5 of affiliate spend went on clicks, tenancies, hybrid deals and other non-CPA payments.

For affiliates and agencies, that shift has direct commercial consequences: CPL and CPC inventory, fixed-fee tenancies and hybrid deals now account for a materially larger slice of program budgets, and content publishers in finance and telecoms are already capturing disproportionate shares. The report does not break out attribution windows or cookie terms, so readers comparing program economics should treat the aggregate ROI figures as directional rather than deal-level benchmarks.

How solid is the data?

The report draws on aggregated spend, transaction and revenue data submitted by 11 major networks, with breakdowns by sector and publisher type. The APMA applied modelling to estimate total market size but describes its estimates as conservative — if anything, it says, the industry is probably worth more than the report finds. Readers should note that impact.com, which supplied data, is quoted in the announcement through its UK country manager; network-sourced figures naturally reflect the reporting base of participating platforms.

Ant Clements, UK country manager at impact.com, said: "It's very encouraging to see the affiliate & partner marketing industry deliver such a strong set of numbers for 2025... Things are tough out there, so it's no surprise to see marketers putting their faith in channels that are known for their accountability, and their ability to deliver strong results." He added that impact.com's own data matches the report's pattern of brands moving spend from ineffective channels like advertising into affiliate, influencer and partner marketing.

Kevin Edwards, founder and director of the APMA, said: "The affiliate channel has once again proved how resilient it is." He singled out comparison companies and tech start-ups as driving the highest annual growth, and framed the channel's diversification as an opportunity for brands to partner with publisher models across the funnel.

Whether the drift toward non-CPA payment structures continues at the same pace will be the number to watch in the 2027 edition — nearly 20% of spend has already moved beyond last-click.