German IT Security Spending Reaches All-Time High

IT security expenditures in 2019 projected to rise a whopping 10%.

Companies in Germany, as they are around the world, are spending unprecedented amounts to protect their IT infrastructure. That’s the conclusion of a brand new study carried out by the IT market research company IDC and commissioned by the trade organization Bitkom.

2019 expenditures will reach an estimated 4.6 billion euros – a double-figure percentage increase over 2018, which was itself a record year.

Security services account for 53 percent of the spending, with the rest going toward hardware and software. The IDC anticipates that this sector will grow by an additional 7.5 percent to around 4.9 billion euros in 2020.

Bitkom board member Ursula Morgenstern says that government agencies and larger businesses drove the growth and predicts that smaller companies will have to increase their IT security spending to keep pace in the years to come.

“The digital arms race between cybercriminals, government intelligence agencies and companies is entering the next stage,” says Morgenstern. “IT security is a long-term growth market.”

The leading IT marketing and consulting agency ISG estimates that security products and services in the German B2B market could reach 6.6 billion euros in 2020. In 2018, Germany accounted for 19.4 percent of all IT security spending in Western Europe – second only to the UK.

“Many companies – and SMEs in particular – are just starting their digital transformation journey, and that is fueling strong domestic demand,” says Marc Rohr, Germany Trade & Invest Director of Digital and Service Businesses. “Significant IT security potential also exists in the manufacturing sector, and the automotive sector in particular, as industrial production enters the digital realm.”