Cannes Lions entries down 20 percent on last year with the biggest decline in Press – down 32%

Entry figures for this month’s Cannes International Advertising Festival are nearly 20% down on last year. 22,652 entries from 86 countries will be competing at this year’s event, a 19.9% drop on the record breaking year in 2008.

“Although there are naturally fewer entries across the categories, the Lions remain the ultimate global awards to win. We are particularly happy about the launch of the PR Lions, which have been so well supported by our colleagues in the PR industry. With 431 entries from 239 companies in 48 countries participating, it’s a great welcome to Cannes for this new category,” said Philip Thomas, Festival CEO.

As the figures show the biggest fall this year is in the Press category with a 32.2% decline. The Film category is down 25.4%, Outdoor is down 23%, Cyber is down20% and Direct down 19.6%.

This year the Cannes Lions runs from June 21st to June 27th.