Outsourcing is increasingly measured by outcomes, not just cost. In 2024, the global BPO market is projected to reach $1,000+ billion, while survey results show 97% of organizations meet or exceed agreed KPIs for outsourced IT services. Still, risk remains a core constraint, since 60% of studied breaches involve third parties and 25% of organizations report difficulties transitioning work back in-house.
Key Takeaways
- 97% of organizations reported meeting or exceeding agreed KPIs for outsourced IT services (survey result)
- 99.95% average service availability achieved by outsourced IT service providers in a 2023 vendor SLA benchmarking report
- 2.6x higher ticket backlog recovery rate reported in outsourced IT helpdesk improvements measured over 90 days
- 62% of enterprises reported increasing the use of outsourcing for IT services between 2021 and 2023
- 70% of surveyed companies reported that they planned to use managed services/outsourcing for at least some IT functions over the next 12 months
- 56% of IT leaders expect to move more application development or operations work to external partners within 12–24 months
- $1,000+ billion global business process outsourcing (BPO) market in 2024 (reported by vendor research industry tracker)
- $366.8 billion global IT services outsourcing market value in 2024 (forecast/estimate)
- $82.3 billion global managed services market size in 2023 (forecast/estimate)
- 40% of respondents reported lower costs as the primary reason for outsourcing IT services (survey result)
- 25% of organizations cited budget predictability as a benefit of outsourcing, tied to more stable vendor pricing models (survey result)
- 22% of IT leaders reported reduced internal overhead costs as a benefit of outsourcing (survey statistic)
- 77% of outsourcing leaders use formal vendor governance structures (QBRs/BRMs and KPI dashboards) to manage performance
- 60% of breaches studied involved third parties or supply chain partners, highlighting governance risk for outsourcing ecosystems (cyber threat research synthesis)
- 25% of organizations reported difficulties transitioning work back in-house (exit/transition risk) in outsourcing relationships (survey result)
Most organizations report meeting KPIs and improving costs and governance, driving continued IT outsourcing growth.
Related reading
01 · Category
Performance Metrics9 stats
01
97% of organizations reported meeting or exceeding agreed KPIs for outsourced IT services (survey result)
02
99.95% average service availability achieved by outsourced IT service providers in a 2023 vendor SLA benchmarking report
03
2.6x higher ticket backlog recovery rate reported in outsourced IT helpdesk improvements measured over 90 days
04
15% improvement in on-time delivery for outsourced project work measured in vendor PMO benchmarks
05
18% average improvement in time-to-market reported after migrating development/operations to outsourced managed providers (delivery efficiency impact estimate)
06
30% of buyers reported improved service quality as a key measurable outcome from outsourcing/managed services (quality outcome share)
07
65% of respondents reported that outsourced service governance improves KPI visibility via dashboards/QBRs (governance-to-performance link)
08
62% of organizations reported using vendor SLAs/OLAs to define service performance targets in outsourcing contracts (contractual performance target adoption)
09
26% of organizations reported improved scalability outcomes after outsourcing to external providers (scalability outcome share)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics from outsourcing are consistently strong, with results like 97% of organizations meeting or exceeding agreed KPIs and providers averaging 99.95% service availability, while improvements also show up in faster delivery and better backlog recovery.
02 · Category
Industry Trends3 stats
01
62% of enterprises reported increasing the use of outsourcing for IT services between 2021 and 2023
02
70% of surveyed companies reported that they planned to use managed services/outsourcing for at least some IT functions over the next 12 months
03
56% of IT leaders expect to move more application development or operations work to external partners within 12–24 months
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In the industry trends on outsourcing, the pattern is clear as 62% of enterprises increased their use of IT outsourcing from 2021 to 2023 while 70% of companies plan to rely on managed services or outsourcing for at least some IT functions in the next 12 months and 56% of IT leaders expect to shift more application development or operations work to external partners within 12 to 24 months.
03 · Category
Market Size9 stats
01
$1,000+ billion global business process outsourcing (BPO) market in 2024 (reported by vendor research industry tracker)
02
$366.8 billion global IT services outsourcing market value in 2024 (forecast/estimate)
03
$82.3 billion global managed services market size in 2023 (forecast/estimate)
04
$329.5 billion global data center outsourcing market size in 2023
05
$120.5 billion global contact center outsourcing market size in 2023 (estimated)
06
Europe accounted for 28.1% of global BPO revenue in 2023 (share of market by region)
07
North America generated $140+ billion in BPO revenues in 2023 (regional revenue estimate)
08
China’s outsourcing services market exceeded $100 billion in 2023 (reported market estimate in industry research publication)
09
The global business process outsourcing market was valued at $262.3 billion in 2022
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In the Market Size view, outsourcing is already a multi hundred billion dollar industry with 2024 estimates ranging from $82.3 billion in managed services to $366.8 billion in IT services outsourcing and a Europe share of 28.1% of global BPO revenue in 2023, showing sustained large scale demand across regions.
04 · Category
Cost Analysis4 stats
01
40% of respondents reported lower costs as the primary reason for outsourcing IT services (survey result)
02
25% of organizations cited budget predictability as a benefit of outsourcing, tied to more stable vendor pricing models (survey result)
03
22% of IT leaders reported reduced internal overhead costs as a benefit of outsourcing (survey statistic)
04
12% average reduction in IT operating costs reported by organizations after adopting outsourcing/managed services for IT functions (cost impact estimate)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Across the Cost Analysis findings, outsourcing is most often justified by lower costs, with 40% of respondents citing this as the primary reason, while benefits like budget predictability at 25% and reduced internal overhead at 22% align with an average 12% drop in IT operating costs after adoption.
More related reading
05 · Category
Risk And Governance5 stats
01
77% of outsourcing leaders use formal vendor governance structures (QBRs/BRMs and KPI dashboards) to manage performance
02
60% of breaches studied involved third parties or supply chain partners, highlighting governance risk for outsourcing ecosystems (cyber threat research synthesis)
03
25% of organizations reported difficulties transitioning work back in-house (exit/transition risk) in outsourcing relationships (survey result)
04
48% of buyers say they include explicit data protection and breach notification clauses in outsourcing contracts (survey result)
05
90% of respondents stated that they track vendor compliance via regular reporting and scorecards (governance adoption)
Interpretation
Risk And Governance Interpretation
For Risk And Governance, it is notable that while 90% of respondents track vendor compliance with regular scorecards and reporting and 77% use formal governance structures, 60% of studied breaches involved third parties, and 48% of buyers explicitly require data protection and breach notification clauses in contracts.
06 · Category
Risk & Compliance5 stats
01
51% of breaches involved vulnerabilities (a driver for outsourced infrastructure hardening and security responsibilities)
02
93% of organizations said they include security requirements in third-party contracts (controls adoption relevant to outsourcing governance)
03
55% of organizations reported that they assess third parties for security before onboarding (third-party risk management practice)
04
57% of respondents said that governance processes are necessary to realize benefits from outsourcing (survey on governance necessity)
05
1.5x increase in third-party risk management investment over 24 months reported in 2022 survey (investment growth index)
Interpretation
Risk & Compliance Interpretation
With 51% of breaches tied to vulnerabilities and 93% of organizations already requiring security in third-party contracts, the Risk & Compliance picture is clear that outsourcing governance and pre onboarding security assessments are becoming increasingly essential, reflected by 55% doing third party checks before onboarding and a 1.5x rise in investment over 24 months.
07 · Category
User Adoption1 stats
01
27% of organizations reported using offshore resources as part of their outsourcing strategy (offshoring prevalence)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
Within user adoption, 27% of organizations are already using offshore resources in their outsourcing strategy, showing a meaningful but still emerging level of adoption for offshoring.
report visual · Comparison
Outsourcing adoption is rising and outcomes improve
More enterprises are increasing outsourcing usage and planning further managed-services adoption over the next 12–24 months.
70% of surveyed companies reported that they planned to use managed services/outsourcing for at least some IT functions 70%
62% of enterprises reported increasing the use of outsourcing for IT services between 2021 and 2023
62%
56% of IT leaders expect to move more application development or operations work to external partners within 12–24 month
56%
source-verifiedstatista.com · idc.com · gartner.com2021
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Megan Gallagher. (2026, February 13). Outsourcing Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/outsourcing-statistics
MLA
Megan Gallagher. "Outsourcing Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/outsourcing-statistics.
Chicago
Megan Gallagher. 2026. "Outsourcing Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/outsourcing-statistics.
Sources & references
36 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+13 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)