PwC reports Internet and interactive games will achieve the largest growth in consumer spend by 2016.

The annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment and Media Outlook report for 2012-2016 predicts a rise in consumer spending in both Internet and interactive games in the next five years.

According to the report, Internet consumer spend will grow by 9.6 percent by 2016, closely followed by a growth of 7.4 percent in interactive games (which in the PwC report includes mobile, digital, and console and PC games).

When breaking down the Australian interactive game sector by sections, PwC predicts console and PC games will grow by 1 percent to around A$950 million; online games will grow by 17.5 percent to just shy of A$700 million; and mobile games will grow by 11.2 percent to nearly $600 million.

While console and PC games still make the most money in Australia, PwC's Megan Brownlow says online and mobile combined will overtake consoles and PC in both growth and revenue by 2016.

This trend is mirrored globally, with PwC reporting that globally, online and mobile games combined will overtake the console and PC market by next year, set to be worth just over US$4.5 billion by 2016.

Elsewhere in the report, PwC predicts 17 percent of consumer spending in 2016 in Australia will be on digital, a number the company believes will be driven by the music and video game sectors.

Last year's PwC Entertainment and Media Outlook 2011-2015 predicted the Australian games sector will grow at a rate of 9.5 percent annually until the year 2015, the highest percentage growth of all entertainment and media sectors including books, magazines, television, radio, and music.

Earlier this year, NPD data revealed that physical video game sales across Australia experienced a decline of 19.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2012.

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