Public cloud to hit $1 trillion by 2026, beating earlier estimates by two years

The public cloud industry has experienced explosive growth over the years, as billions worldwide rely on cloud storage to manage and safeguard their data. Since 2020, the sector has nearly tripled and is set to reach a remarkable $934 billion value in 2025, 20% more than last year. But even more impressive is how rapidly the market is expanding, pushing the public cloud toward a historic milestone much sooner than thought before.

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According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, public cloud is forecasted to become a trillion-dollar industry in 2026, beating earlier estimates by two years.

Annual Growth Rate Doubles Between the Two Market Forecasts

A surge in digital transformation, rising demand for data storage and processing, and more affordable public cloud solutions have propelled the public cloud industry to record highs. Since 2017, the entire market has grown by an average of 25% per year, an impressive figure even by the tech industry standards. The rapid expansion of cloud-native technologies, including AI, machine learning, and IoT, has only fuelled market growth, allowing the sector to reach a historic milestone much faster than thought before.

According to Statista’s market forecast from January 2024, the public cloud industry was expected to hit $785 billion in value this year, growing by roughly 14% year-over-year. With this pace of growth, the sector would hit a one-trillion milestone in 2028. However, in September 2024, Statista revised its forecast and adjusted figures, showing that the public cloud segment is growing much faster.

According to the revised outlook, the market will grow by an impressive 20.8% and hit $934 billion this year, adding $150 billion more than previously estimated. This updated forecast also showed that the public cloud will become a trillion-dollar industry in 2026, or two years earlier than initially predicted.

Moreover, the sector’s incredible momentum will continue in the following years, driving its total value to a staggering $1.8 trillion by 2029. Annual growth rates in the public cloud industry will also skyrocket. While earlier projections suggested rates ranging between 9.7% and 13.7%, these figures now stand between 17.2% and 20.8%.

Companies to Spend $310 per Employee on Cloud Services in 2026, 20% More Than This Year

With businesses increasingly adopting AI, big data, and advanced SaaS tools and using scalable cloud infrastructure to enable remote work, corporate cloud spending has skyrocketed. Just five years ago, companies spent around $95 per employee on public cloud services. Since then, this figure has soared by nearly 130% and hit $217 last year. Statista expects the upward trend to continue in 2025, with the average spending per employee climbing by another 20% to $310 in 2025. With more and more companies prioritizing cloud investments over traditional IT infrastructure this figure is expected to skyrocket to over $485 by 2029.