STAMFORD, Conn., July 27, 2026 — Worldwide IT spending is expected to reach $6.37 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% from 2025, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.
“Data center systems and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) are the top growth segments, reflecting accelerating investment in AI infrastructure, cloud platforms, and intelligent applications,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Building the compute capacity required for AI is the largest infrastructure project ever attempted by humanity. Driven by the expansion of AI workloads and demand for high-performance computing, hyperscalers and enterprises are rapidly scaling next-generation data center capacity.”
These trends underscore that AI infrastructure, AI-enabled cloud platforms and advanced software ecosystems will remain the most attractive segments for capitalizing on the strong expansion in global IT spending (see Table 1).
Table 1. Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars)
| 2025 Spending | 2025 Growth (%) | 2026 Spending | 2026 Growth (%) | |
| Data Center Systems | 506 | 51.6 | 822 | 62.5 |
| Devices | 790 | 9.7 | 868 | 9.8 |
| Software | 1,271 | 13.9 | 1,468 | 15.5 |
| Services | 1,492 | 3.8 | 1,570 | 5.3 |
| Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) | 222 | 25.3 | 287 | 29.3 |
| Communications Services | 1,296 | 3.3 | 1,354 | 4.4 |
| Overall IT | 5,577 | 10.7 | 6,369 | 14.2 |
Source: Gartner (July 2026)
“Despite the strong growth in spending, this is not a rising tide lifts all boats market trend,” said Lovelock. “Technology budgets are being strained by inflation, supply shortages, rising hardware and memory costs, AI funding initiatives and shifting priorities.”
Revised Growth Projections Reflect AI-Driven Market Expansion
In this latest forecast update, total IT spending has been revised upward with stronger growth projections, reflecting increased confidence in overall market expansion. The revision places greater emphasis on AI-related spending, with incremental growth increasingly concentrated in segments directly benefiting from AI adoption, while traditional segments show comparatively modest changes.
“IT spending growth is being fueled by rising investments in AI infrastructure and software. Organizations are spending more on AI optimized servers, cloud services, and AI-ready software as they expand their AI efforts, while hardware markets continue to adjust to semiconductor and memory supply constraints,” said Lovelock. “The fastest growth is expected in AI-related infrastructure, cloud services, and software, reflecting the strong focus on building and scaling AI capabilities across the enterprise.”
Gartner’s IT spending forecast methodology relies heavily on rigorous analysis of the sales by over a thousand vendors across the entire range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, complemented by secondary research sources, to build a comprehensive database of market size data on which to base its forecast.
Additional Insights Available
The Gartner quarterly IT spending forecast delivers a unique perspective on IT spending across the hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications segments. These reports help Gartner clients understand market opportunities and challenges. The most recent IT spending forecast research is available to Gartner clients in Gartner Market Databook, 2Q26.
More information on the forecast can be found in the upcoming complimentary Gartner webinar Q2 2026 IT Spending Forecast: An Ocean of AI Possibility, a Bucket of Capacity.
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Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo
Additional IT trends will be presented during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, the world’s most important conference for CIOs and other IT executives. Gartner analysts and attendees will explore how to become agents of change in their organizations and harness AI for successful digital transformation. Follow news and updates from the conferences on X and LinkedIn using #GartnerSYM, and on the Gartner Newsroom.
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