IDC expects security-related hardware, software, and services investments to reach $219 billion in 2023, up 12.1% year-over-year, and nearly $300 billion in 2016, outpacing overall IT spending growth.

The research firm noted the security investment increase is driven by the ongoing cyberattack threats, the hybrid-workforce security demands, and the need to meet data privacy and governance requirements.

"Spend on security products and services will continue to outperform growth in overall IT spending," Serena Da Rold, associate research director of IDC Data & Analytics said in a statement. "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.”

“The more mature industries, and largest spenders, will grow faster than average as they continue to invest in cutting edge security solutions to prevent and fend off ransomware attacks on their distributed workforce and to protect critical infrastructure, which is increasingly connected to the IT network,” she explained.

IDC’s Worldwide Security Spending Guide quantifies global revenue forecast for security spending by 20 industries across 48 countries and five company size bands.

The guide showed that banking, discrete manufacturing, professional services, and federal/central government are among the industries that will deliver the largest security investments this year.

Banks and discrete manufacturers are forecasted to spend about evenly on software and services with the largest expenditures going toward managed security services. While professional services are projected to see greater investments in software with a focus on governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), and endpoint security.

“Combined, these four industries will account for more than a third of all security spending in 2023,” researchers noted, adding that from 2021 to 2026, securities and investment services, telecommunications, and banking are expected to have the fastest investment growth.

IDC anticipates that security software solutions will be the largest among the three technology groups, accounting for nearly half of the security investments in 2023, the guide found. The group will also be the fastest-growing one with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.7%, followed by services at 11.0%. Within the software group, endpoint security will be the leading category, followed by identity and digital trust software, and cybersecurity analytics, intelligence, response, and orchestration software.

For the security service group, managed security is the leading category with $42 billion expected spending in 2023. And hardware investments will be dominated by network security appliances.

IDC’s guide researched nine regions including the United States, Canada, Latin America, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Japan, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and other Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China).

The firm forecasts the U.S. to be the largest region for security spending this year, followed by Western Europe, Asia/Pacific, and China. However, IDC forecasts China to see the fastest spending growth over the 2021-2026 period with a five-year CAGR of 18.8%.

Discrete manufacturing and professional service industries will lead the U.S. security investments, while banking and discrete manufacturing are expected to spend more than other industries in Western Europe.

"The total IT security spending in Europe will keep on growing at more than 10% over the forecast period,” Stefano Perini, senior research analyst at IDC European Data & Analytics said in a statement. “The biggest portion of that spending will still be represented by services, which will be increasingly leveraged especially by organizations with limited competences in the security area to protect their data and assets from the threat of ransomware attacks exacerbated by the current geopolitical situation in the region.”