Gartner Forecasts Global IT Spending to Hit $6.37 Trillion

Gartner forecasts that global IT spending will reach $6.37 trillion in 2026, representing a 14.2% increase over 2025. This growth is fueled primarily by an acceleration in investments for artificial intelligence infrastructure, cloud platforms, and next-generation data centers.

Data center systems are expected to be the fastest-growing segment, with a projected 62.5% surge to $822 billion. Other significant increases include Infrastructure as a Service, which is forecast to grow 29.3% to $287 billion, and software spending, which is expected to rise 15.5% to roughly $1.47 trillion. Growth in devices, IT services, and communications services is projected to be more modest.

Despite the overall growth, the firm warns that semiconductor supply constraints, hardware costs, and inflation continue to pressure budgets. These factors have led organizations to concentrate spending heavily on AI initiatives rather than the broader IT market. John-David Lovelock, a distinguished VP analyst at the firm, described the effort to build the necessary compute capacity for AI as the largest infrastructure project ever attempted by humanity.