Worldwide Spending on Cybersecurity to Reach $300 Billion by 2026 Driven by the Growing Threat of Cyberattacks and Hybrid Work Environment

According to the new Worldwide Security Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC), global spending on security solutions and services is expected to reach $219 billion in 2023, a 12.1% increase from 2022.

The report shows that investments in cybersecurity hardware, software, and services are projected to reach nearly $300 billion in 2026, driven by the ongoing threat of cyberattacks, the need for a secure hybrid work environment, and the need to meet data privacy and governance requirements.

IDC also estimates that software will be the largest technology group in 2023, accounting for nearly half of all security spending this year. Endpoint security will be the leading software category, followed by identity and digital trust software and cybersecurity analytics, intelligence, response, and orchestration software.

The United States will be the largest geographic region for security spending in 2023, while the industries expected to deliver the largest investments in security products and services are Banking, Discrete Manufacturing, Professional Services, and Federal/Central Government.

2023 Cybersecurity Spending

Services will be the largest area of focus for Federal/Central Government. Meanwhile, Europe will see more than 10% growth in total IT security spending over the forecast period, with finance and manufacturing being the top IT security spending sectors in the region.

Banking, Discrete Manufacturing, Professional Services, and Federal/Central Government are the industries that will deliver the largest investments in security products and services in 2023.

Source: IDC


The industries that are expected to have the fastest spending growth over the 2021-2026 forecast period are Securities & Investment Services, Telecommunications, and Banking. The report states that “Almost all industries and company size segments will see low double-digit growth through 2026, driven by the expansion of cloud and container deployments, the need to secure remote access to resources, and the compliance requirements of privacy and data protection legislation.”

IDC’s Spending Guides provide a granular view of key technology markets from a regional, vertical industry, use case, buyer, and technology perspective. The spending guides are delivered via pivot table format or custom query tool, allowing users to easily extract meaningful information about each market by viewing data trends and relationships.