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Segment information - Contributions by Geographical Area (Detail) - GBP (£) £ in Millions | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019 | Dec. 31, 2018 | Dec. 31, 2017 | [2]
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items] |  |  |  |  |
Revenue | [1] | £ 13,234.1 | £ 13,046.7 | [2] | £ 13,146.4
Headline PBIT | [3] | 1,560.6 | 1,651.2 | [2] | 1,793.1
Non-current assets |  | 15,698.9 | 17,762.9 |  |
North America [member] |  |  |  |  |
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items] |  |  |  |  |
Revenue | [1],[4] | 4,854.7 | 4,851.7 | [2] | 5,083.5
Revenue less pass-through costs | [4],[5] | 4,034.3 | 4,059.7 | [2] | 4,335.2
Headline PBIT | [3],[4] | £ 662.0 | £ 710.6 | [2] | £ 816.3
Headline PBIT margin | [6] | 16.40% | 17.50% | [2] | 18.80%
Non-current assets |  | £ 6,833.1 | £ 7,269.7 |  |
United Kingdom [member] |  |  |  |  |
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items] |  |  |  |  |
Revenue | [1] | 1,797.1 | 1,785.6 | [2] | £ 1,737.4
Revenue less pass-through costs | [5] | 1,390.1 | 1,393.8 | [2] | 1,390.0
Headline PBIT | [3] | £ 188.5 | £ 179.6 | [2] | £ 218.1
Headline PBIT margin | [6] | 13.60% | 12.90% | [2] | 15.70%
Non-current assets |  | £ 1,754.6 | £ 2,079.2 |  |
Western Continental Europe [member] |  |  |  |  |
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items] |  |  |  |  |
Revenue | [1] | 2,628.8 | 2,589.6 | [2] | £ 2,455.7
Revenue less pass-through costs | [5] | 2,176.4 | 2,182.9 | [2] | 2,063.7
Headline PBIT | [3] | £ 261.5 | £ 289.4 | [2] | £ 249.8
Headline PBIT margin | [6] | 12.00% | 13.30% | [2] | 12.10%
Non-current assets |  | £ 3,429.8 | £ 4,385.6 |  |
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe [member] |  |  |  |  |
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items] |  |  |  |  |
Revenue | [1] | 3,953.5 | 3,819.8 | [2] | £ 3,869.8
Revenue less pass-through costs | [5] | 3,245.7 | 3,239.3 | [2] | 3,355.0
Headline PBIT | [3] | £ 448.6 | £ 471.6 | [2] | £ 508.9
Headline PBIT margin | [6] | 13.80% | 14.60% | [2] | 15.20%
Non-current assets |  | £ 3,681.4 | £ 4,028.4 |  |
[1] | Intersegment sales have not been separately disclosed as they are not material.
[2] | Prior year figures have been re-presented in accordance with IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations, as described in the accounting policies.
[3] | A reconciliation from operating profit to headline operating profit is provided in note 32
[4] | North America includes the US with revenue of £4,576.5 million (2018: £4,576.1 million, 2017: £4,782.0 million), revenue less pass-through costs of £3,806.3 million (2018: £3,836.0 million, 2017: £4,089.9 million) and headline operating profit of £620.6 million (2018: £674.4 million, 2017: £773.5 million).
[5] | Revenue less pass-through costs is revenue less media, data collection and other pass-through costs. Pass-through costs comprise fees paid to external suppliers where they are engaged to perform part or all of a specific project and are changed directly to clients, predominantly media and data collection costs. See note 3 to the consolidated financial statements for more details of the pass-through costs.
[6] | Headline operating profit margin is calculated as headline operating profit (defined above) as a percentage of revenue less pass-through costs.

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