The Most Insightful Outsourcing Statistics & Facts for 2023
Outsourcing has been an attractive business strategy since the 1980s. Since then, it has developed as an industry of its own, contributing to the growth and development of many sectors that choose to employ it.
The outsourcing statistics below reveal the latest state of this massive industry worldwide, covering data on the biggest employers and providers by country, sectors in which outsourcing thrives, as well as the pain points of outsourced service providers, and the directions they’re looking to move forward.
10 Key Outsourcing Statistics to Know in 2023:
The revenue of the outsourcing sector worldwide is over $92.5 billion
Cost is the primary objective of outsourcing
IBM is the biggest outsourcing company in the world revenue-wise
IT is the most outsourced function around the world
13.6% of companies’ IT budgets goes to outsourcing
Over 37 million US jobs have been lost due to outsourcing to China since 2001
Sri Lanka is the leading outsourcing destination by financial attractiveness
Ukraine exports $2 billion worth of computer services to the United States
Companies save 15%–90% of their usual costs by outsourcing
The global outsourcing market is expected to exceed $587.5 billion in 2030
General Outsourcing Stats
The global business process outsourcing market is estimated to be over $245.9 billion.
This figure obtained in 2021, is estimated to grow at an annual growth compound rate (CAGR) of 9.1% between 2022 and 2030. The dominant industries in terms of end-users of business process outsourcing services include IT & communications, manufacturing, BFSI, healthcare, and retail.
(Grand View Research)
The revenue of the global outsourcing industry exceeds $92.5 billion.
When observing data by service type, of that total, $66.5 billion is accounted for by IT outsourcing and $26 billion by business process outsourcing. Data further reveals that the total contract value of the outsourcing market in the United States stands at $62 billion.
(Statista)
As agreed by 70% of businesses, cost is the primary objective of outsourcing.
Flexibility ranks second, as agreed by 40% of businesses, followed by speed to market (20%). Outsourcing trends point to the access to tools and processes along with agility rounding the list of the top outsourcing objectives, tying at 15% each.
(Deloitte)
68% of businesses agree that cloud services are one of the primary enablers in their outsourcing journey.
The second among the top outsourcing enablers is RPA (Robotic Process Automation), as agreed by 64% of businesses, while 55% stated single instance ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).
(Deloitte)
IBM is the biggest outsourcing company in the world in terms of revenue.
Headquartered in Armonk, NY, with 383,800 employees, IBM’s revenue stands at $76.5 billion.
Second on the list of the largest outsourcing companies is Deloitte, headquartered in New York, NY. Having around 330,000 employees, its revenue stands at $47.6 billion.
Accenture ranks third with $44.7 billion. The company has 492,000 employees and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
Headquartered in Fermont, CA, Synnex follows with a revenue of $23.8 billion and 225,000 employees.
Tata Consultancy Services, which is headquartered in Mumbai, India, and employs 446,675 people while its revenue stands at $22.1 billion ranks last on the list of the five biggest outsourcing companies worldwide.
(Insider Monkey)
54% of businesses outsource IT, making it the most outsourced function in general.
Being outsourced by 44% of businesses, finance ranks second, followed by payroll (32%) and customer service or contact center (22%). HR, procurement, tax, as well as internal audit and risk all tie at 17% each, followed by real estate and facilities management (12%) and legal (11%). Cyber, along with sales and marketing tie at 5% each, with supply chain and manufacturing rounding the list being outsourced by 4% of businesses.
(Deloitte)
As of 2020, outsourcing accounts for 13.6% of companies’ IT budgets.
IT outsourcing trends reveal that the above is the highest portion recorded in over 10 years. When it comes to the operations that businesses outsource within the scope of IT, 60% of them outsource at least some of their application development, followed by IT security (55%).
(Computer Economics)
Outsourcing Rates by Country
The United States outsources most of its work to China.
In fact, the value of China’s outsourcing market grows by 30% annually. The list of the top countries that the United States outsources to includes the Philippines, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
(Insider)
India is the leading destination for outsourcing business services.
India’s total score stands at 7.09, most of which is accounted for by its financial attractiveness.
The country is followed by China (total score of 6.8, mostly due to people skills and availability), along with Malaysia and Indonesia (total scores of 6.22 and 6.21, respectively, mostly due to financial attractiveness).
Outsourcing facts and figures reveal that Brazil and Vietnam round the list of the top five outsourcing destinations, both tying at a total score of 6.05, primarily due to financial attractiveness.
(Statista)
With a score of 2.99, Sri Lanka is the leading outsourcing destination by financial attractiveness.
The only country that comes close is Pakistan, with a financial attractiveness score of 2.9. The list of the top outsourcing destinations in this regard continues with Bangladesh (2.84), India (2.83), the Phillippines (2.82), and Indonesia (2.78).
According to outsourcing trends, Vietnam and Georgia tie at 2.77 each, followed by Egypt (2.75), Kazakhstan (2.7), Ukraine (2.65), Ghana (2.64), Bulgaria (2.52), Morocco (2.5), and Malaysia (2.49) rounding the list.
(Statista)
The United States ranks highest among outsourcing destinations by people skills and availability, as well as digital resonance.
The United States’ respective scores for each of these parameters stand at 2.39 and 1.15.
Other countries ranking high among outsourcing destinations due to their people skills and availability scores include China (2.3), India (2.18), the United Kingdom (1.93), and Germany (1.85).
In regards to their digital resonance scores, facts about outsourcing reveal that the leading outsourcing countries that follow the United States include the United Kingdom (1.11), Germany and China (tied at 1.04 each), as well as India and Estonia (tied at 0.91 each).
(Statista)
At a score of 2.08, the United Kingdom is the leading outsourcing destination by business environment.
The only country that comes close in this regard is the United States, with a business environment score of 2.03. The list of the top outsourcing destinations by business environment is rounded by Estonia (1.95), Germany (1.91), and Portugal (1.79), as outsourcing facts reveal.
(Statista)
Ukraine exports $2 billion worth of computer services to the United States.
Other destinations to which this country exports computer services and their value include the United Kingdom ($503 million), Malta ($304 million), Israel ($238 million), and Cyprus ($205 million) rounding the top five. The list continues with Germany ($197 million), Switzerland ($111 million), the Netherlands ($108 million), Canada ($98 million), and Denmark ($93 million).
(Statista)
Outsourcing Providers
42% of SSO leaders say control, standardization, and optimization is the most significant benefit they offer enterprises.
Trends in outsourcing reveal that another 20% of SSO (Shared Services Organization) leaders agree that cost and time are the most notable benefit they provide enterprises, followed by 17% who say the same about scaling and agility.
Customer service, improving enterprise-wide decision-making and/or business problem solving, as well as leveraging competencies around data analytics and process automation tie at 5%.
Further 3% of SSO leaders state driving top-line revenue growth/profitability is the most important benefit they offer enterprises, followed by innovation (2%) and platform integration (1%).
(SSON)
Offered by 57% of SSCs each, F&A and P2P are the most commonly outsourced services.
Another 55% of SSCs (Shared Services Centers) offer HR, while 50% offer payroll services. The top ten services offered by SSCs also include payroll (50%), O2C (49%), master data management (47%), R2R (46%), IT (44%), procurement (42%), and cash management as well as data/business analytics (tied at 36% each).
Call center support and tax support/admin tie at 30%, followed by statutory reporting (28%), along with intelligent automation as well as learning and development administration (tied at 24% each).
Outsourced labor statistics reveal that offered by 22% of SSCs, FP&A ranks among the lesser-popular outsourcing services, followed by supply chain (20%), front office support (16%), sales and marketing (14%), real estate and facilities management (11%), and creative/design services (9%).
4% of SSCs offer other outsourcing services that are not on the above list.
(SSON)
HR is the top service that SSCs are looking to expand, regardless if they’re offering it or not.
Data/business analytics ranks second, as agreed by 30% of SSCs, followed by F&A and IT, tied at 21% each, as outsourcing growth statistics reveal. Other services that SSCs are prioritizing for expansion include talent acquisition (18%), master data management and intelligent automation (tied at 15% each), as well as procurement (14%).
(SSON)
61% of SSCs say data analytics in their organization is basic.
They describe it as primarily descriptive, based on historic data, and limited to traditional business intelligence tools. What’s more, 41% of SSCs say their top priority when it comes to data is real-time analytics to drive business intelligence/decision support. This outsourcing data does make sense if we observe that 61% of SSCs say they’re still addressing requirements when it comes to being data-ready to support self-service and real-time analytics.
This is due to their data being siloed, and they lack the measures needed to standardize data quality across systems. The primary reasons for this seem to be organizations’ silo mentality limiting access/sharing of data, as well as the data not being sufficiently organized/structured/digitized, as agreed by 24% and 22% of SSCs, respectively.
(SSON)
67% of SSCs agree that remote work being embedded as a key plank of organizational design is the most significant postpandemic change.
When it comes to the future trends in outsourcing and work in general, 23% of SSCs are prioritizing the implementation of new technology and 48% agree that their service delivery model will become more virtual and remote. A further 32% of SSCs say that the biggest impact that the future of work will have on their operations is the contribution toward more resilient service delivery.
(SSON)
Outsourcing FAQ
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Conclusion
The outsourcing statistics analyzed above verify that this industry shows no signs of halting anytime soon. Having survived the pandemic, the outsourcing sector is up and running full steam, with more and more businesses utilizing its services to cut costs, scale, and other benefits. With providers persistently looking to scale and improve their services, outsourcing will certainly roll out into more industries and use cases, making it an essential driving force in the future of work and its economy.
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