SaaS Statistics UK 2026: Market Size, Spend and AI Adoption
By Andy Jones
CEO & Founder, Make IT Simple
In short
Verified UK SaaS and software statistics for 2026: market size, company spend, AI adoption and digital employment, sourced from DSIT, DBT, IMARC and Cledara.
Need a UK SaaS or software number you can cite with confidence? This page pulls together the latest verified UK figures on market size, what companies actually spend, AI adoption and digital employment, with the source linked on every claim.
We separate official UK statistics (DSIT, DBT) from analyst estimates and vendor payment panels, so you can see what is census-grade and what is directional. Every figure below was read from the live primary source on 13 September 2026. Where a number is not yet verified against a primary source, we have left the section out rather than fill it with a secondary roundup.
Key takeaways
- The UK Digital Sector contributed £177.2 billion in GVA in 2024, 6.8% of total UK GVA. (DSIT, provisional)
- Digital Sector GVA grew 3.3% in real terms from 2023 to 2024, against 1.1% for the whole UK economy. (DSIT)
- Computer programming, consultancy and related activities made up 42.6% of Digital Sector GVA and rose 9.0% year on year. (DSIT)
- Analyst estimate: the UK SaaS market was USD 18.5 billion in 2025 and USD 21.4 billion in 2026, with a forecast CAGR of 12.43% to 2034. (IMARC, analyst model)
- Among UK companies in the Cledara panel, median annual software spend is £73,000, with the middle half between £28,000 and £153,000. (Cledara, payments panel)
- The typical UK company in that panel runs 32 paid tools, middle half 17 to 47. (Cledara)
- UK median software spend is up 7% year on year. AI Platforms and Model Ops spend is up 353% year on year, median £10,000. (Cledara)
- Around 1 in 6 UK businesses with five or more employees (16%) currently use AI. 80% neither use it nor plan to. (DSIT)
- AI use runs at 36% in large firms against 14% in micro firms, and 43% in information and communication. (DSIT)
- Among AI adopters, 85% use NLP or text generation and only 7% use agentic AI. (DSIT)
- 75% of AI-using businesses report higher workforce productivity, but only 12% report higher revenue so far. (DSIT)
- Over the next 12 months, 65% of AI users and planners intend to buy off-the-shelf AI apps, while 22% plan bespoke AI. (DSIT)
- Digital Sector employment fell to 1.77 million filled jobs in 2024, down 6.3%, the first decrease reported in ten years. (DSIT, statistics in development)
- The UK had an estimated 5.7 million private-sector businesses at the start of 2025, almost all of them SMEs. (DBT)
How big is the UK SaaS market in 2026?
Analyst firm IMARC puts the UK SaaS market at USD 21.4 billion in 2026, up from USD 18.5 billion in 2025, and forecasts USD 54.7 billion by 2034 at a 12.43% CAGR.
Treat that as an analyst market model, not an official series. For official UK context on the broader software economy, DSIT’s Digital Sector GVA is the better anchor: provisional £177.2 billion in 2024, or 6.8% of UK GVA.
Within that Digital Sector, computer programming, consultancy and related activities, the subsector closest to software product and services work, accounted for 42.6% of Digital GVA in 2024 and grew 9.0% in real terms, worth £6.1 billion in 2023 prices.
Definition note: Digital Sector GVA is SIC-based and wider than SaaS alone, since it includes telecoms, content and more. Always state which definition you are citing.
Sources: IMARC UK SaaS Market · DSIT Digital Sector Annual GVA, published 12 February 2026
How fast is UK SaaS and digital software growing?
Official Digital Sector GVA grew 3.3% in real terms from 2023 to 2024, against 1.1% for all UK industries. The software-heavy programming and consultancy subsector grew faster still, at 9.0%.
IMARC’s SaaS-specific forecast implies continued double-digit growth through the early 2030s, at a 12.43% CAGR from 2026 to 2034. That is an analyst projection rather than an official one.
We do not yet have a verified like-for-like global SaaS CAGR to set against the UK figure, so we have left that comparison out rather than borrow one from a secondary roundup.
Sources: DSIT Digital Sector Annual GVA · IMARC
How much do UK companies spend on SaaS each year?
In Cledara’s UK payments panel, as of 13 September 2026, median annual software spend is £73,000. Half of companies sit between £28,000 and £153,000. Median UK software spend is up 7% on a year earlier.
Disclosure: these are real anonymised payments from companies using Cledara, not an official census. They are useful for understanding what buyers actually pay, not for population totals.
Source: Cledara SaaS Spend Index Q3 2026
How many SaaS apps does the average UK organisation use?
The typical UK company in the Cledara panel runs 32 paid tools, with the middle half between 17 and 47.
Again, this is a vendor payments panel rather than a government survey, so say so when citing it.
Source: Cledara SaaS Spend Index Q3 2026
How is AI changing UK SaaS products and buyer budgets?
AI adoption among UK businesses is still modest, but spend on AI software categories is rising sharply among those already buying tools.
DSIT’s AI Adoption Research surveyed 3,500 UK private-sector businesses with five or more employees, with fieldwork from February to May 2025. It found:
- 16% currently use at least one AI technology
- 5% plan to adopt
- 80% neither use it nor plan to
Adoption rises with size: 36% of large businesses against 14% of micro firms, and 43% in information and communication.
Among adopters, 85% use NLP or text generation and only 7% use agentic AI. On average 30% of staff use AI, 53% of adopting organisations say they use it constantly and 80% at least weekly.
Impact so far is skewed towards productivity rather than revenue: 75% report improved workforce productivity, while 12% report increased revenue and 77% report no revenue change yet.
Buying intent favours packaged software. Over the next 12 months, 65% of AI users and planners intend to invest in off-the-shelf AI applications, while 22% plan to build bespoke AI solutions. That split matters for anyone weighing custom AI development against a subscription.
On the spend side, Cledara shows AI Platforms and Model Ops as the fastest-rising UK category, at a median of £10,000 a year, up 353% year on year.
Sources: DSIT AI Adoption Research · Cledara SaaS Spend Index Q3 2026
How does SME SaaS and AI adoption differ from large enterprises?
The UK is an SME economy. There were 5.7 million private-sector businesses at the start of 2025, of which 5.64 million were small, 38,435 medium and 8,335 large.
AI uptake tracks size: large 36%, mid-sized 23%, micro 14%. That gap matters if you are building a product, because enterprise AI features will not automatically convert a micro-SME majority.
Policy will also pull more SMEs into software workflows. The government states that e-invoicing will be mandatory from April 2029, with Making Tax Digital phased and expanded through 2028.
Sources: DBT Business Population Estimates 2025 · DSIT AI Adoption Research · SME Digital Adoption Taskforce 2026 update
Where is UK digital employment heading?
Digital Sector filled jobs fell from 1.89 million in 2023 to 1.77 million in 2024, a drop of 6.3% or about 120,000 jobs. That is the first decrease reported in ten years. The sector accounted for 5.2% of UK filled jobs in 2024.
The largest subsector fall was in computer programming, consultancy and related activities, down about 50,000 filled jobs.
Caveat: these are Official Statistics in development. The Office for Statistics Regulation removed accreditation over data quality concerns in the underlying Annual Population Survey for smaller population segments. Say so when citing them.
Source: DSIT Digital Sector Employment 2024
Methodology and sources
Every figure on this page was read from the live primary source on 13 September 2026. We record the claim, the number, the period, the publisher and the source URL, and we drop any statistic that fails verification rather than carry it over from another roundup.
Four confidence levels are used throughout:
| Level | Meaning | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Official | Government statistics, produced by the body that collected the data | DSIT, DBT figures |
| Official (in development) | Government statistics carrying published quality caveats | Digital Sector employment |
| Analyst | A commercial market model, not a census | IMARC market size |
| Vendor panel | Real transactions from a specific customer base, not a population sample | Cledara spend and tool counts |
Two definitions are easy to conflate, so we keep them apart. DSIT Digital Sector GVA is SIC-based and covers far more than SaaS. IMARC’s SaaS market size is an analyst estimate in US dollars. They are not interchangeable, and neither is a substitute for the other.
Some sections you might expect are absent: the number of SaaS companies in the UK, the share of businesses using cloud software, and UK churn, NRR and CAC benchmarks. Verified UK primary sources for those were not available at the time of writing, and the widely quoted figures are either global or vendor marketing. We would rather leave a gap than publish a number we cannot stand behind.
This page is reviewed quarterly. Next review: December 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the projected size of the UK SaaS market?
IMARC, an analyst estimate rather than official statistics, values the UK SaaS market at USD 18.5 billion for 2025 and USD 21.4 billion for 2026. The same model predicts a 12.43% compound annual growth rate, reaching USD 54.7 billion by 2034. These figures come from an analyst model and should not be read as government data.
How much do UK firms spend on software and how many tools do they use?
According to Cledara, a payments panel of companies using its service rather than a census, the median UK annual software spend is £73,000, with the middle half ranging from £28,000 to £153,000. The same panel finds a typical UK company runs 32 paid tools, with the middle half between 17 and 47. This reflects observed billing data from the panel.
What is the current state of AI adoption among UK businesses?
DSIT AI Adoption Research, based on a survey of 3,500 firms fielded February to May 2025, shows 16% of UK businesses with five or more employees currently use AI, while 5% plan to and 80% do not. Among adopters, 85% use natural language processing or text generation and 7% use agentic AI. Looking ahead, 65% intend to buy off-the-shelf AI apps and 22% plan bespoke AI.
How large is the UK digital sector’s contribution to the economy?
DSIT provisional figures for 2024 put UK Digital Sector gross value added at £177.2 billion, equal to 6.8% of total UK GVA. Real growth from 2023 to 2024 was 3.3%, compared with 1.1% for all UK industries. Computer programming, consultancy and related activities made up 42.6% of Digital Sector GVA and grew 9.0%, adding £6.1 billion in 2023 prices.
How quickly is AI related software spending growing in the UK?
Cledara, a payments panel rather than a census, reports the UK median software spend rose 7% year on year. Spending on AI Platforms and Model Operations grew 353% year on year, with a median of £10,000. These figures track actual card and billing flows through Cledara’s panel, not a full census of the economy, and highlight a shift in budget toward AI tooling.
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