The ICT market in Western and Central Europe will grow by 3.8% to a total value of €553 billion in 2011, according to a report from research firm Forrester. 

This places the European market behind the Americas and Asia Pacific in both size and speed of growth. Forrester predicts these markets will be worth €728 billion and €675 billion respectively in 2011.

Analyst Andrew Bartels highlighted a North/South divide in Europe’s ICT growth. "The Nordics, the Central European countries, and the UK will have better ICT market growth than the continental European countries of Germany, France, Benelux, and Austria/Switzerland," he said. "[They] in turn will do better than the southern European countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece."

Bartels emphasised that this divide is not only seen in market growth, but also the size of the ICT market relative to the size of the respective economies.

"ICT markets in the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden punch above their economic weight, with higher percentages of GDP devoted to tech investment than larger economies like France of Germany," said Bartels.

Forrester’s research also found that the largest European markets are not the same for each segment of ICT market. For example, it found that France is largest software market, but that Spain holds the biggest market for communications equipment.