The IT market in Macedonia declined 2.9% year on year in U.S. dollar terms to $159.05 million in 2008. Measured in local currency, the market dropped 10.1%, according to an annual study from IT market research company IDC. As expected, IT spending in Macedonia decreased last year from an exceptionally high base year in 2007, when the market skyrocketed 63.8% year on year.

“It should also be noted that the IT market in 2008 was 60% up on the 2006 IT market. This can be attributed to an advantageous economic climate and particularly strong demand from households and financial institutions, solid telecoms spending, and notable, although reduced, government IT spending,” says Managing Director Boris Zitnik, IDC Adriatics. “Such varying IT spending dynamics are typical of small countries’ IT markets, on which a very small number of large projects can dramatically affect market trends.”

In 2008, spending on IT services increased 38.4% year on year, packaged software rose 5.8%, and hardware sales contracted 12.9%. “IT spending in 2008 was driven by surging growth in the provision of IT services, as well as strong notebook shipments, particularly within the home and small office/home office segment,” claims Zitnik. The share of IT services of the overall 2008 Macedonian IT market is 22.8%; package software’s share stands at 10.9%; while hardware accounted for the rest, at 66.2%.

“Numerous egovernment projects have been started or are planned. Nonetheless, the execution of these projects could be postponed due to budgetary constraints. IDC expects the global economic and financial crisis to influence Macedonia’s IT market, which will decline by at least 13% in 2009, followed by a flat market in 2010,” states Zitnik.

IDC expects IT spending in Macedonia to increase at a compound annual growth rate of around 3% over the five-year forecast period to reach $184.02 million for the year in 2013.

IDC’s Macedonia IT Market 2009–2013 Forecast and 2008 Vendor Shares (IDC # ESQ13R9) presents the IT market in Macedonia and forecasts total IT expenditure by technology through 2013. The study contains market size, vendor market shares, and growth projections for hardware, packaged software, and IT services provision. It analyzes market trends and provides valuable insights into the main drivers of the individual market segments.