Gartner's 2026 forecast shows AI infrastructure and hyperscale demand driving the fastest IT spending growth in years.
Global IT Spending Hits $6.31 Trillion in 2026 as Public Cloud Spend Jumps 21%
Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending will grow 13.5% in 2026 to $6.31 trillion, with public cloud end-user spending alone reaching $850 billion — a 21.3% jump — as AI infrastructure investment accelerates.
Gartner's rolling 2026 IT spending forecasts have been revised upward repeatedly over the past year — a pattern itself worth noting, since it reflects AI infrastructure demand consistently outpacing analyst expectations.
The topline numbers
Gartner's most recent forecast puts worldwide IT spending growth at 13.5% in 2026, totaling $6.31 trillion — up from earlier-year forecasts of 10.8% and 9.8% growth issued in prior quarters, each successive revision moving higher as actual demand came in stronger than modeled. Within that total, public cloud end-user spending alone is forecast at $850 billion in 2026, a 21.3% jump from 2025 — cloud is growing meaningfully faster than IT spending overall.
Where the growth is concentrated
The driver is unambiguous: AI infrastructure and hyperscale cloud demand. Gartner projects spending on data center systems — the servers, networking, and facilities underpinning both cloud and AI workloads — will surpass $788 billion in 2026, a figure that reflects the capital intensity of the current AI buildout cycle far more than traditional enterprise IT refresh cycles.
The sovereign cloud subplot
A smaller but fast-growing category worth tracking separately: sovereign cloud infrastructure (IaaS) spending, forecast at $80 billion globally in 2026, up 35.6% from 2025 — outpacing even overall public cloud growth. Regionally, Middle East and Africa (89% growth), mature Asia/Pacific (87%), and Europe (83%) are projected to post the steepest sovereign cloud growth rates, driven largely by data-residency regulation rather than pure demand economics.
Why this matters
For anyone selling into enterprise IT budgets in 2026, the data suggests two distinct growth pools worth targeting separately: the broad AI-infrastructure-driven cloud and data center wave, and a smaller but faster-growing regulatory-driven sovereign cloud segment concentrated outside the US. Forecasters underestimating AI-driven demand repeatedly through 2025–2026 is itself a signal that spending momentum here has outrun typical planning cycles.
Sources
Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 13.5% in 2026, Totaling $6.31 Trillion, Gartner Says Worldwide Sovereign Cloud IaaS Spending Will Total $80 Billion in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Gartner's most recent 2026 forecast puts worldwide IT spending growth at 13.5%, reaching a total of $6.31 trillion — a figure that has been revised upward repeatedly through 2025 and 2026 as AI infrastructure demand outpaced earlier estimates.
Gartner attributes the growth primarily to AI infrastructure buildout and hyperscale cloud demand, which is driving sharp increases in server and data center investment — spending on data center systems alone is projected to surpass $788 billion in 2026.
Sovereign cloud refers to cloud infrastructure built to meet a country or region's data residency and regulatory requirements. Gartner forecasts it will reach $80 billion in global spending in 2026, up 35.6% from 2025, driven by regulatory pressure in the Middle East/Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.