Gartner sees European IT spending increasing by 6.8 percent in 2025 and expects it to rise further in 2025. AI is, unsurprisingly, the driving force behind the investments.

According to Gartner forecasts, IT spending in Europe is expected to rise to $1.28 trillion by 2025. This is an increase of 8.7 percent compared to 2024. Investments in AI-related IT services in particular contribute heavily to this growth.

Gartner also sees a significant increase of 6.7 percent for 2024. Gartner divides investments into five categories: data center, devices, software, IT services and communications. Data centers and software are the fastest growing categories, with increases of more than eleven percent.

AI and cloud increase spending

According to Gartner, European CIOs are increasing their IT spending to strengthen their competitive position and grow their businesses. Generative AI in particular remains an important incentive. IT services specifically focused on AI applications will grow by 21 percent, with total spending in this segment increasing from $78 billion in 2024 to $94 billion in 2025. Gartner believes that European companies are increasingly moving away from developing their own GenAI solutions and are increasingly opting for ready-made solutions from external partners.

Interest in the public cloud also remains high. It is estimated that spending on public cloud solutions will reach $123 billion in 2024 and continue to rise in 2025. Additionally, IT security spending is expected to reach $47 billion this year.

Data centers

Another key growth driver in IT spending is demand for data center systems. Gartner predicts that European server spending will increase by 25 percent by 2024. This trend is due to the increasing demand for AI-optimized servers, driven primarily by the expansion of the infrastructure required to train and use AI models. Although the growth rate is expected to slow to 11 percent by 2025, demand for server capacity remains significant.

In addition, investments in software and devices are also increasing. Spending on software is expected to rise 13.2 percent, while spending on devices is expected to rise 9.3 percent. Growth in communications services remains limited, with an increase of just 3.6 percent.

Strategic choice

Since the pandemic, European companies have increasingly recognized the value of IT investments to support their business operations and innovation. According to Gartner, growth forecasts for 2025 represent the highest growth rate since the recovery in 2021. Choosing IT partner solutions over in-house development is intended to help companies integrate AI technologies more efficiently and quickly.

With these forecasts, Gartner highlights the continued and growing role of IT spending in the European economy, with an increasing focus on cloud, AI and security.