Worldwide IT spending is on the rise and is projected to reach $3.7 trillion this year, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. The report projects a 4.2 percent increase from the $3.6 trillion spent in 2012, citing “projected gains in the value of foreign currencies versus the dollar.”

“Uncertainties surrounding prospects for an upturn in global economic growth are the major retardants to IT growth,” Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner, says in a press release. “This uncertainty has caused the pessimistic business and consumer sentiment throughout the world. However, much of this uncertainty is nearing resolution, and as it does, we look for accelerated spending growth in 2013 compared to 2012.”

Gartner previously projected $706 billion and 7.9 percent growth in worldwide devices spending (including PCs, tablets, mobile phones, and printers). The most recent forecast projects worldwide devices to increase 6.3 percent from 2012 to $666 billion in 2013.

Spending on worldwide devices from 2012 to 2016 is also forecasted to average 4.5 percent annually (down from 6.4 percent) in current U.S. dollars.

“The tablet market has seen greater price competition from android devices as well as smaller, low-priced devices in emerging markets,” said Gordon. “It is ultimately this shift toward relatively lower-priced tablets that lowers our average selling prices forecast for 2012 through 2016, which in turn is responsible for slowing device spending growth in general, and PC and tablet spending growth in particular.”

Gartner forecasts enterprise software spending to grow 6.4 percent as a result of markets including security, storage management, and customer relationship management. Devices (6.3 percent), IT services (5.2 percent), data center systems (4.5 percent), overall IT (4.2 percent), and telecom services (2.4 percent) are also projected to experience growth in 2013.