The report, which polled 412 companies engaged in DM across a number of sectors, found that £102bn of the retail industry's £285bn revenues last year came from direct marketing activity.

Overall DM budget trends were up 5% year-on-year – although the majority reported no change – and the platforms showing the biggest upward trend were online and email.

Some 64% of companies in the automotive sector and 50% in the finance sector said they were increasing their direct mail spend, and these same sectors were the strongest of those claiming an increase in catalogue use.

The charity sector was the leader amongst those reducing direct mail and catalogue spend.

However, the travel sector appeared to spend the largest proportion of its budget on print, with 18% spending between 40-49% on direct mail and 5% spent between 90-100% on brochures, while the automotive industry also dedicated much of its budget to direct mail.

DMA executive director Chris Combermale said: "The report shows that direct marketing has been a consistently solid sales generator for businesses throughout all sectors. As well as the financial contribution direct marketing makes to UK PLC, the report also shows the value it adds to people's lives through employment and empowering them as consumers."

The report is available from the DMA website.