Total global spend on information technology will rise 2 percent in 2013 to $3.72 trillion, technology research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. reported on July 2. However, the projected growth rate was reduced from an earlier estimate of 4.1 percent.

“Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth,” said Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner. “Regionally, 2013 constant-currency spending growth in most regions has been lowered. However, Western Europe’s constant-currency growth has been inched up slightly as strategic IT initiatives in the region will continue despite a poor economic outlook.”

Total global IT spend will rise 4.1 percent to $3.88 trillion in 2014, according to Gartner.

Total IT spend includes IT services, devices, data center systems, enterprise software and telecom services.

Global spend on IT services alone is projected to increase 2.2 percent to $926 billion, according to Gartner. IT services spend will grow 4.6 percent in 2014 to $968 billion.