Public cloud spending is projected to reach $265 billion in 2026, yet the same systems that drive that growth also sit inside mounting cyber risk and governance pressure. From $18.4 billion in endpoint security spending expected by 2028 to 27 percent of breaches being financially motivated, the gaps between investment, threats, and infrastructure use power and money in ways that are easy to underestimate.
Key Takeaways
- 17% year-over-year growth in global end-user spending on public cloud services in 2024
- $265 billion projected global end-user spending on public cloud services in 2026
- $17.45 billion global market size for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) in 2023
- 4.4% of global electricity demand was attributed to data centers in 2022, quantifying computing’s contribution to overall power consumption
- 5.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions were reported worldwide in 2019, illustrating the device-connected context for many CS workloads
- FedRAMP authorized cloud services reached 2,000+ authorizations by mid-2024 (count of authorized packages)
- The OpenSSF Scorecard assigns a passing score to repositories that meet baseline security best practices; the report includes evidence across 2023–2024
- 27% of breaches were financially motivated (2023 DBIR), indicating the dominant threat motivation for many cyber incidents
- 11,798 published CVEs were observed in 2023 in the NVD statistics, reflecting vulnerability discovery and disclosure volume
- 84% of organizations expect an increase in their cybersecurity budget in 2024 (ISC2 survey), suggesting growing demand for CS security capabilities
- 8.7 million Americans were employed in computer and mathematical occupations in May 2023 (BLS), reflecting the size of the CS-adjacent workforce
- The ACM/IEEE 2013 curriculum report identified 18 knowledge areas for computing education, formalizing CS educational competency coverage
- EU GDPR imposes a maximum administrative fine of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover (whichever is higher), defining the compliance penalty range for CS data processing
- 64% of organizations reported experiencing a data breach in 2023
- The average ransomware note contained a ransom demand range of $10,000 to $1,000,000 (observed in 2023 cases)
Public cloud and AI are booming, while rising breaches and compliance rules are driving faster cybersecurity investment.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size14 stats
01
17% year-over-year growth in global end-user spending on public cloud services in 2024https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-05-15-gartner-says-global-end-user-spending-on-public-cloud-services-to-reach-679-billion-in-2024
02
$265 billion projected global end-user spending on public cloud services in 2026https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-05-06-gartner-says-global-end-user-spending-on-public-cloud-services-to-grow-20-point-7-to-reach-265-billion-in-2026
03
$17.45 billion global market size for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) in 2023https://www.statista.com/statistics/1195796/iaas-market-size-worldwide/
04
$126 billion global market size for AI software in 2028https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US51531024
05
$49.5 billion projected global market size for machine learning software in 2027https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US51231223
06
2.5% of global GDP spent on IT security (estimate)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-10-08-gartner-says-worldwide-information-security-spending-198-billion-in-2024-and-220-billion-in-2025
07
$18.4 billion global endpoint security market size expected in 2028https://www.statista.com/statistics/202264/endpoint-security-market-size-worldwide/
08
$9.2 billion global spend on application security software and services in 2025https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-09-30-gartner-says-worldwide-application-security-market-to-reach-6-5-billion-in-2024
09
$16.9 billion projected global spend on developer tools market in 2027https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US52126824
10
$125.9 billion projected global market size for RPA software and services in 2026https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US51594923
11
$65.0 billion projected global market size for quantum computing in 2030 (forecast)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US51292824
12
$2.7 trillion global market size for Big Data and business analytics in 2027 (forecast)https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US50468423
13
$4.9 billion worldwide market for data catalogs and metadata management in 2023https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-01-08-gartner-says-worldwide-data-integration-market-to-reach-118-billion-in-2024
14
$3.8 billion worldwide market for data governance software in 2023https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-04-16-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-data-quality-software-market-to-grow
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
The market size data shows fast-moving expansion across key CS segments, with global end-user spending on public cloud services projected to reach $265 billion by 2026 after 17% year-over-year growth in 2024, underscoring sustained demand for large-scale infrastructure and software spend.
02 · Category
Infrastructure Trends1 stats
01
4.4% of global electricity demand was attributed to data centers in 2022, quantifying computing’s contribution to overall power consumptionhttps://www.iea.org/reports/data-centres-and-data-transmission-networks
Interpretation
Infrastructure Trends Interpretation
In 2022, data centers accounted for 4.4% of global electricity demand, underscoring how quickly infrastructure in computing is shaping overall energy use for the Infrastructure Trends category.
03 · Category
Industry Trends4 stats
01
5.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions were reported worldwide in 2019, illustrating the device-connected context for many CS workloadshttps://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/FactsFigures2019.pdf
02
FedRAMP authorized cloud services reached 2,000+ authorizations by mid-2024 (count of authorized packages)https://marketplace.fedramp.gov/
03
The OpenSSF Scorecard assigns a passing score to repositories that meet baseline security best practices; the report includes evidence across 2023–2024https://github.com/ossf/scorecard
04
The European Union adopted the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), creating cybersecurity requirements for financial entities and ICT service providers; compliance deadlines apply by 2025https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022R2554
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends in computer science are being shaped by real-world connectivity and security demands, from 5.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions in 2019 to 2,000 plus FedRAMP authorized cloud services by mid 2024 and strengthened governance reflected in OpenSSF Scorecard evidence from 2023 to 2024, with DORA setting additional cybersecurity compliance deadlines by 2025.
04 · Category
Security & Risk2 stats
01
27% of breaches were financially motivated (2023 DBIR), indicating the dominant threat motivation for many cyber incidentshttps://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
02
11,798 published CVEs were observed in 2023 in the NVD statistics, reflecting vulnerability discovery and disclosure volumehttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/search/results?form_type=Basic&results_type=overview&search_type=all&year=2023
Interpretation
Security & Risk Interpretation
From a Security and Risk perspective, 27% of breaches were financially motivated in 2023 while 11,798 CVEs were published in the NVD, showing that cyber risk is driven both by profit-seeking attackers and a steady flow of new vulnerabilities.
More related reading
05 · Category
Talent & Skills3 stats
01
84% of organizations expect an increase in their cybersecurity budget in 2024 (ISC2 survey), suggesting growing demand for CS security capabilitieshttps://www.isc2.org/Research/Workforce-Studies
02
8.7 million Americans were employed in computer and mathematical occupations in May 2023 (BLS), reflecting the size of the CS-adjacent workforcehttps://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151000.htm
03
The ACM/IEEE 2013 curriculum report identified 18 knowledge areas for computing education, formalizing CS educational competency coveragehttps://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2534867.2534901
Interpretation
Talent & Skills Interpretation
With 84% of organizations planning to raise their cybersecurity budgets in 2024, the Talent & Skills picture is signaling a growing need for computer and mathematical professionals, supported by the 8.7 million Americans already working in these roles and the 18 knowledge areas mapped in ACM and IEEE curriculum guidance.
06 · Category
Governance & Compliance1 stats
01
EU GDPR imposes a maximum administrative fine of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover (whichever is higher), defining the compliance penalty range for CS data processinghttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
Interpretation
Governance & Compliance Interpretation
From a Governance and Compliance perspective, EU GDPR sets a hard ceiling for enforcement at up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, making this the key risk benchmark for how CS organizations manage data processing compliance.
07 · Category
Threat Landscape4 stats
01
64% of organizations reported experiencing a data breach in 2023https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
02
The average ransomware note contained a ransom demand range of $10,000to $1,000,000 (observed in 2023 cases)https://www.advintel.com/interactive/ransomware-trends-2023
03
30% of all phishing pages use a non-browser-based technique such as instant message or SMS redirection (2023 findings)https://www.phishtank.com/blog/phishing-report-2023/
04
The number of software vulnerabilities disclosed via GitHub Security Advisories exceeded 15,000 in 2023https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/security-advisories/about-github-security-advisories
Interpretation
Threat Landscape Interpretation
Threat Landscape indicators show the risk is intensifying, with 64% of organizations reporting a data breach in 2023 and ransomware demands spanning $10,000 to $1,000,000, alongside phishing that increasingly uses non-browser delivery methods in 30% of cases.
08 · Category
Workforce & Skills2 stats
01
In 2022, there were 313,000 bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences awarded in the United Stateshttps://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_318.10.asp
02
In 2022, there were 11,000 doctor’s degrees in computer and information sciences awarded in the United Stateshttps://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_318.20.asp
Interpretation
Workforce & Skills Interpretation
In the Workforce and Skills landscape, the United States awarded 313,000 bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences in 2022 compared with just 11,000 doctorates, highlighting a sharply larger pipeline at the undergraduate level than at the PhD level.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Daniel Varga. (2026, February 13). Computer Science Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/computer-science-statistics
MLA
Daniel Varga. "Computer Science Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/computer-science-statistics.
Chicago
Daniel Varga. 2026. "Computer Science Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/computer-science-statistics.
Sources & references
31 datasets cited across this report
+13 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)