In New Zealand, the forecast annual growth rate for IT to 2009 is 4.6 percent, says IDC New Zealand analyst Jenna Griffin.

The figure is slightly below the worldwide average of 5.9 percent because New Zealand is a mature IT market, Griffin says.

Government, manufacturing and the banking and finance sector will take the lion"s share of IT spending in that time, she says.

Worldwide, the fastest growth is predicted in healthcare, media and communications, but in New Zealand, the growth in healthcare won"t be spectacular, mainly because a lot is already spent on health IT.

"Sixty-five percent of healthcare IT spending is by the government and healthcare has always been a big spender," Griffin says.

The projected compound annual growth rate for health IT spending here is 3.6 percent, she says.

There will be a significant increase in local communications and media IT spending, mainly in the communications sector, driven by the huge internal IT needs in telecommunications, Griffin says. "Telcos are starting to ramp up spending."

The proportion of IT spending by consumers, as opposed to businesses and government, is set to decline slightly between now and 2009, Griffin says. "It will fall one point, from 9 percent now to 8 percent, which is consistent with worldwide forecasts."

The compound annual growth rate for hardware spending in New Zealand to 2009 is projected at 0.1 percent, software at 8.6 percent and services at 6.5 percent, she says.