Worldwide IT spending will reach $3.7 trillion in 2013, up 4.2% from $3.6 trillion in 2012, according to Gartner’s latest estimates.

Last year, the analyst company had predicted 3.8% growth in 2013. However, it revised its prediction upwards as the dollar is expected to weaken against foreign currencies, boosting international revenues for US IT companies.

The fastest growing segment of the IT industry in 2013 will be enterprise software, Gartner predicts, expanding 6.4% to reach $296 billion. This growth will be driven primarily by CRM, security and strorage management software.

The next fastest growing segment will be PCs, tablets, mobile phones and printers, up 6.3% from 2012 to $666 billion. Gartner had previously predicted that this segment would grow 7.9% to $706 billion in 2013, but has cut its PC and tablet sales forecasts.

The largest segment of the market by revenue will be telecommunications, with spending to reach $1.7 trillion, Gartner said. However, the market will see flat growth over the next several years as revenue from mobile data services compensates for the declines in total spending for both the fixed and mobile voice services markets, it said.

Aside from the telecoms market, Gartner said IT services and data centre systems will see the lowest growth in 2013, at 5.2% and 4.5% respectively.

"Uncertainties surrounding prospects for an upturn in global economic growth are the major retardants to IT growth," said Gordon. "This uncertainty has caused the pessimistic business and consumer sentiment throughout the world. However, much of this uncertainty is nearing resolution, and as it does, we look for accelerated spending growth in 2013 compared to 2012."