Total bank IT spending across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific will grow to US$173.3 billion in 2012. This spending level is approximately 2.8% higher than 2011. This is a discouraging but not surprising indicator that IT spending growth is slightly on the decline.

In a new report, IT Spending in Banking: A Global Perspective, Celent analyzes IT spending trends across different regions: North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The report compares and contrasts the direction of IT spending trends.

The majority of the growth is coming from Asia-Pacific banks: spending by banks in this region will grow by 6.0% in 2012 to US$59.4 billion. This growth will continue in 2013 to reach US$62.3 billion. North American banks, specifically US banks, are reporting more dismal results. North American banks’ spending will grow by a mere 2.4% in 2012 to US$54.7 billion. This figure will increase gradually to 2.9% in 2013 to US$56.3 billion. European banks are in far deeper trouble and are reporting little to no growth. Spending by European banks will grow 0.3% in 2012 to US$59.2 billion. European spending growth will continue to be flat through 2013, increasing by just 0.4% to US$59.5 billion.

“From an IT spending perspective, the next couple of years are going to be rocky,” says Jacob Jegher, Senior Analyst with Celent's Banking Group and coauthor of the report. “The good news is that a slight turnaround is in sight. When examining the sum of the three regions, IT spending is expected to grow by 3.1% in 2013 and 3.4% in 2014.”