Worldwide IT Spending Forecasts
According to estimates from the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), worldwide information and communication technology (ICT) spending has nearly doubled between 1993 and 2001, increasing by a compound annual growth rate of 7.6%, to reach $2.42 trillion in sales during 2001.
In partnership with the International Data Corporation (IDC), WITSA has developed its own country-specific estimates of ICT spending through a combination of technology vendor surveys, surveys of end-users and professional organizations, government data and financial records of public companies.
WITSA includes computer hardware, software, IT services and office equipment in its definition of ICT, along with telecommunications hardware and software. Salaries paid to IT personnel are also part of WITSA's total ICT spending estimates.
Breaking out telecommunications spending, which accounted for just under 43% of worldwide ICT spending in 2001, WITSA estimates that worldwide IT spending has increased from $810 billion in 1993 to $1.38 trillion in 2001.
By comparison, as a result of continued economic uncertainty, IDC has twice revised its independent worldwide IT spending forecast in July and November of 2002. According to its latest revision, IDC estimates that global spending on IT will come in at $875 billion for 2002 and increase by 5.8% to reach $925 billion in 2003.
A third comparative estimate from Gartner Dataquest includes telecommunications spending as part of its forecast for global IT spending, which Gartner expects will grow by 3.4% to reach $2.3 trillion by the end of 2002.
For 2003, Gartner forecasts IT spending growth of 7.0%, with a recovery expected to begin after the second quarter of the year.
Broken down by market segment, Gartner finds that telecommunications accounts for 58.4% of worldwide IT spending in 2002, followed by IT services at 24.2% of technology spending. Hardware and software are expected to make up 14.0% and 3.3% of global IT spending, respectively.
In 2003, telecommunications spending is expected to retain its share of global IT spending at 58% of IT sales, while at the same time leading global IT spending growth by increasing 7.5% over 2002 spending.
And finally, a fourth comparative estimate by the Aberdeen Group projects worldwide IT spending of $1.23 trillion for 2002 and $1.29 trillion for 2003. Between 2001 and 2005, the Aberdeen Group estimates that worldwide IT spending will increase by a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%.
According to IDC, North America accounted for 36% of worldwide IT spending in 2001, followed by Western Europe, which was the second largest regional market.
WITSA has noted, however, that North America has lost 1% of its global market share between 1999 and 2001, as the Asia-Pacific region and Eastern Europe have increased their spending on information technology.
Comparative figures from the Aberdeen Group give North America a slightly higher share of global IT spending, at about 40% of the worldwide market in 2002 and 2003. On the other hand, the Aberdeen Group assigns a lower portion of worldwide IT spending to the Asia-Pacific region, compared with IDC's estimate for 27% of global IT spending for Japan and the Asia-Pacific region combined.
In 2003, the Aberdeen Group predicts that Canada and the United States will slightly increase their share of the global technology market, entirely at the expense of Europe, which is expected to see slower economic growth.
Among the leading national markets for information technology, the United States made up 39.7% of the world market, according to WITSA's calculations.
Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France rounded out the top five markets in the world, with the top ten countries accounting for 83% of the estimated $1.38 trillion in IT spending worldwide. | 
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