Worldwide IT spending to hit $5Tn in 2024, says Gartner
CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES — Global information technology (IT) spending is on track to grow by 6.8% and surpass $5 trillion in 2024, according to the latest projections by market research firm Gartner Inc.
This represents a downward revision from the previous forecast of 8.0% expansion, as economic uncertainties weigh on corporate and consumer technology investments.
The largest IT category, services, is expected to expand by 8.7% in 2024 to $1.5 trillion globally. This growth reflects organizations’ focus on spending on projects aimed at boosting efficiency, automation, and staff productivity.
Meanwhile, Gartner analysts note that much-hyped emerging technologies like generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) are unlikely to significantly influence corporate or consumer budgets over the next 12 months.
“2024 will be the year when organizations actually invest in planning for how to use GenAI, however, IT spending will be driven by more traditional forces, such as profitability, labor, and dragged down by a continued wave of change fatigue,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner.
Geographically, India should see among the strongest IT spending growth rates globally at nearly 11.1%, led by services, software, and devices. Mature markets like North America and Western Europe are forecast to see mid-single-digit percentage spending increases year-over-year.
“Due to a lack of internal skills, Indian businesses are looking to partner with external providers in areas such as AI, industry cloud, security, and data analytics, resulting in the expected growth of IT services spending in 2024,” the Gartner report noted.
