Spending on technology products and services in Australia is projected to exceed A$109 billion in 2022, an increase of 6.5% from 2021, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc.
“Australia’s IT spending is showing its strongest growth in a decade, and we expect growth rates of around 5 to 6% to continue for the next few years,” said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice president at Gartner. “This growth has been driven by business rather than consumer spending. The falling U.S. dollar has also provided currency tailwinds.”
Spending growth on devices (primarily PCs and tablets) reached a peak of 9% in 2021 as remote work and learning took hold, and growth will remain elevated in 2022 as enterprises upgrade devices and/or invest in multiple devices for remote or hybrid work settings. The total installed base of PCs in Australia in unlikely to drop back to pre-pandemic levels, following growth of almost 25% in 2020 and a further 20% growth forecast for this year.
The largest IT spending segment in Australia is IT services, particularly in consulting services, which is expected to grow from $7.4 billion last year to reach $10.5 billion in 2025.
“Organizations are entering a new build phase as they accelerate the shift to digital business,” said Lovelock. “There’s a lot more to do and less time to do it, and they need consulting services to help them get it done in time.”
Enterprise software is forecast to show the highest growth in 2022, with an increase of 14.2% from 2021 (see Table 1). Both vertical-specific and general enterprise application software is forecast to grow strongly in 2022 as the economy rebounds.
Table 1. Australia IT Spending Forecast (Millions of Australian Dollars)
|
2020 Spending |
2020 Growth (%) |
2021 Spending |
2021 Growth (%) |
2022 Spending |
2022 Growth (%) |
Data Center Systems |
2,719 |
-8.1% |
2,736 |
0.6% |
2,838 |
3.7% |
Enterprise Software |
20,561 |
13.7% |
23,281 |
13.2% |
26,591 |
14.2% |
Devices |
14,577 |
3.3% |
15,890 |
9.0% |
16,618 |
4.6% |
IT Services |
35,234 |
2.3% |
36,966 |
4.9% |
39,214 |
6.1% |
Communications Services |
23,712 |
-2.3% |
23,623 |
-0.4% |
23,853 |
0.1% |
Overall IT |
96,803 |
3.1% |
102,496 |
5.9% |
109,113 |
6.5% |
Source: Gartner (October 2021)
