2026 IT Spend Benchmarks

IT Spend Benchmarks 2026: Per Employee and % of Revenue

The most recent measured cross-industry figure is 5.49% of revenue (Deloitte, 2022 data). Published by-industry figures run from software at 24.7% down to industrial products at 4.1%. Compare your company against what is actually published, then run the calculator.

Global IT spending: $6.37 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% (Gartner, July 2026). Cross-industry average: 5.49% of revenue (Deloitte, 2022 data, the most recent measured figure published).

What percentage of revenue should an IT budget be?

5.49% of revenue, the most recent measured cross-industry figure (Deloitte, 2022 data). The largest single driver is whether you sell technology: Deloitte puts firms selling data or tech-enabled services at 8.54% against 3.66% for those that do not. By industry the published figures are software 24.7%, tech hosting 15.9%, financial services 10.0%, healthcare 5.0% and industrial products 4.1% (Flexera). For every other industry, nothing is published.

% of revenue guide By industry By company size

Sources: Deloitte Global Technology Leadership Study for the cross-industry percentage of revenue, Flexera State of Tech Spend Report for the by-industry figures, and Gartner's published forecast for worldwide IT spending totals. Company-size and per-employee figures are this site's model, not published data. Gartner IT Key Metrics Data, Avasant and IDC publish deeper benchmarks; those are paid products we do not hold and do not reproduce. Compiled August 2026. Full methodology and source list.

Bars are Flexera's published figures from its State of Tech Spend Report (2019 data, published 2020), the only free source breaking this metric out by industry. Its sample skews to large, software-heavy enterprises, so its own all-industry average is 8.2%. The dashed line is Deloitte's measured cross-industry average of 5.49% (2022 data), which is the better guide to the level.

No free public source publishes a percentage-of-revenue figure for education, energy, logistics and transport, media and entertainment, non-profit, professional services, retail and e-commerce, telecom. Where this site shows a number for those, it is the cross-industry average, not an industry benchmark.

Your Company Details

Annual Revenue (USD)

Number of Employees

Industry

Company Size Tier(auto-detected: SMB)

Peer benchmark

Are you overspending vs your peers?

Enter your numbers. We'll plot you on the 2026 distribution for your industry — p10 through p90. These distributions are this site's model, not published data.

Industry

Employees

Annual IT spend (USD)

Your $/employee

$24k

Industry median

$24k

Technology · $/employee/year distribution · 2026

These percentile distributions are this site's model, not published data. No free public source publishes IT spend per employee by percentile and industry. Methodology.

Within typical range · 50th percentile

In line with peers. Focus on allocation quality (security %, cloud %, vendor concentration) over total spend.

At the median you'd spend $2.4M/year total. You're effectively at the median.

Explore IT Budget Benchmarks

IT Spending Benchmarks 2026

Industry x company size matrix. Global IT spending $6.37 trillion, up 14.2%.

IT Budget by Industry

From financial services (7-10%) to manufacturing (2-5%). 10+ industries covered.

IT Budget by Company Size

Startup through large enterprise. Per-employee costs and team sizing benchmarks.

Average IT Spend Per Employee

$9,000-$14,000 per employee globally. Full per-FTE map by size, industry and category.

IT Budget as % of Revenue

How your revenue band affects the right percentage. Factors that move it up or down.

Average IT Budget

5.49% of revenue, the most recent measured cross-industry figure. Typical IT budget in dollars by revenue and size.

Small Business IT Budget

4-7% of revenue. Around $150k-$250k for a 20-person firm. Managed services vs in-house.

Cybersecurity Budget Guide

10-15% of IT budget; measured average 10.9% in 2025. Includes mini calculator.

Cloud Spending Benchmarks

45% of IT budgets going to cloud. Public cloud spend $723.4B in 2025, up 21.5%.

IT Department Budget Structure

2026 structure benchmarks by category: personnel 28-32%, software 26-30%, infrastructure 20-24%, security 10-14%, support 7-10%.

IT Budget Optimization

10 proven strategies. SaaS audits save 5-15%. Cloud rightsizing saves 20-35%.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage of revenue should be spent on IT?

The most recent measured cross-industry figure is 5.49% of revenue, from Deloitte's Global Technology Leadership Study (2022 data, published 2023). Deloitte projected 5.85% for 2024, and its 2026 edition does not publish this metric at all, so nobody has a current published cross-industry number. By industry, the only free published figures come from Flexera: software 24.7%, tech hosting and cloud 15.9%, financial services 10.0%, healthcare 5.0%, industrial products 4.1%. Flexera's sample skews to large software-heavy enterprises, which is why its own all-industry average is 8.2%. The single biggest driver is whether you sell technology: Deloitte puts firms that sell data or tech-enabled services at 8.54% against 3.66% for those that do not.

How much do companies spend on IT?

Across all industries, companies spend an average of 5.49% of annual revenue on IT, the most recent measured cross-industry figure (Deloitte Global Technology Leadership Study, 2022 data). In dollars that scales with revenue: roughly $549,000 at $10M revenue, $2.75M at $50M, $5.5M at $100M and $27.5M at $500M. Most companies fall between 2% and 10% of revenue, driven mainly by industry (financial services 7-10%, manufacturing 2-5%) and company size, with smaller firms spending a higher share because a fixed baseline of security, helpdesk and core systems does not scale down with revenue. Worldwide, Gartner puts total IT spending at $6.37 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% year over year (July 2026 revision).

How much should a small business spend on IT?

Small businesses with 1-49 employees typically spend 6.9% of revenue on IT. A 20-person company with $3 million in revenue should budget approximately $150,000-$207,000 per year, which works out to roughly $7,500-$10,500 per employee. Very small, early-stage teams on lean SaaS-only stacks can run as low as $1,800-$4,000 per employee. Cloud-first approaches and managed services (MSPs) help small businesses achieve enterprise-grade IT at lower per-unit costs without requiring a full-time IT team.

What is the average IT budget for a company?

No free public source publishes IT spend as a percentage of revenue broken down by company size. Gartner's IT Key Metrics Data does, and it is a paid product we do not hold and do not reproduce. What this site shows for company size is its own model, applied to Deloitte's measured cross-industry level of 5.49%. The direction is not controversial: a baseline of security tooling, helpdesk, core systems and compliance does not scale down with revenue, so the same absolute spend is a larger share of a smaller company's revenue. The size of that effect is our assumption, and we would rather say so than present it as a benchmark.

How do you calculate an IT budget?

Start with your annual revenue and apply your industry benchmark percentage to get a baseline. Then adjust for company size (small companies spend proportionally more), growth plans (scaling up requires investment), and compliance requirements (regulated industries spend more on security). Allocate the total across five categories: personnel (28-32%), software and SaaS (26-30%), infrastructure (20-24%), security (10-14%), and support (7-10%). Use this calculator to get a starting point, then validate with your current spend.

What percentage of IT budget should go to cybersecurity?

Industry best practice is 10-15% of total IT budget for most organisations. Regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, and government should target 15-18%. Measured security spend averaged 10.9% of IT budget in 2025, down slightly from 11.9% in 2024 (IANS / Artico Security Budget Benchmark), the first decline in five years as overall IT budgets grew faster than security spend. Of the security budget, approximately 40% goes to software and platforms, 30% to personnel, 15% to hardware, and 15% to outsourced services.

What is the IT spending forecast for 2026?

Global IT spending is projected at $6.37 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% year-over-year (Gartner, July 2026 revision). Data centre systems are the fastest-growing segment at $822 billion (+62.5%), driven by AI infrastructure investment. Worldwide AI spending is growing 47% year-over-year to $2.59 trillion (Gartner, May 2026). The top CIO priorities for 2026 are AI scaling (76% of CIOs expect agentic AI investment), security, and FinOps cost optimisation.

Built by Digital Signet

You're using a tool we built.

Ranks on Google, cited by leading AI assistants

Digital Signet builds custom software and AI automation for IT and finance teams. Budget dashboards, finance-to-IT integrations, reporting automation, workflow tools.

See what we build →