ICT spending in the META region is expected to top $233.8 billion in 2023

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) spending across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) is expected to reach $233.8 billion in 2023, a 3.9% increase from 2022, according to the latest data from IDC.

IDC's report predicts telecommunications services spending to increase 3.6% YoY to $133.9 billion, and IT spending to grow 4.3% YoY to $99.9 billion.

Jyoti Lalchandani, IDC's group vice president and regional managing director for the META region, stated that the region will face several challenges this year, including volatile demand, high inflation, and currency fluctuations. He emphasized the importance of organizations investing in their digital resiliency to better succeed in changing market environments.

Lalchandani also predicted that digital transformation spending in the META region will top $48.8 billion in 2023 and accelerate at a CAGR of 16% in the next few years to reach $74 billion by 2026. He also mentioned that digital transformation spending will continue to grow as a share of overall IT spending, reaching 43.2% in 2026.

Other highlights from IDC's predictions for the META region in 2023 include spending on public cloud services growing 25.0% to reach $10.4 billion, spending on big data analytics growing 11.4% to reach $4.1 billion, and spending on AI growing 16.3% to reach $7.9 billion.