COVID-19 accelerated the growth of the cloud computing market, as companies across the globe started seeking a way to secure business continuity amid the lockdown. However, the following years are set to witness even more impressive growth, with revenues hitting a new benchmark.

According to data presented by stockapps.com, global public cloud revenues are expected to jump to $338.8 billion in 2021, a 25% increase in one year. The noticeable increasing trend is set to continue in the next two years, with revenues jumping by another 50% and reaching $500.5 billion by 2023.

Today, billions of people use cloud storage to manage and store private data. However, its ability to provide access to computing power that would otherwise be extremely expensive has seen cloud computing technology spread widely in the business sector as well.

Examples of cloud computing use can be found practically everywhere, from messaging apps, social networking, and streaming services to business processes, office tools, lending platforms, or chatbots.

The Statista survey revealed that between 2016 and 2019, global public cloud revenues jumped by 128%, rising from $94.7 billion to $216.6 billion. As more and more companies turned to cloud solutions after COVID-19 hit, this figure grew by 25% year over year to $271.9 billion in 2020. After rising to $338.8 billion in 2021, public cloud revenues are set to jump by another $161.7 billion in the next two years. By 2025, the unified market is expected to hit $679.5 billion value.

As the market's largest segment, software as a service (SaaS) is forecast to generate $190.9 billion in revenue this year, an 18% increase. The global shift from on-premises license software to subscription-based SaaS models, together with the increased need for new software collaboration tools during COVID-19, is expected to continue driving SaaS growth. In the next two years, SaaS revenues are forecast to grow by 31% and hit $251.4 billion. Furthermore, statistics indicate the average revenue per user in this segment is expected to rise from $55.93 to $72.51 in this period.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is set to witness a 70% revenue growth in the next two years, the most significant increase among all market segments. Statistics show IaaS revenues are expected to jump from $87.4 billion in 2021 to almost $148 billion in 2023. The average revenue per user is forecast to hit $42.66 billion in 2023, up from $25.60 this year.

Platform as a service (PaaS) segment is set to reach a $60.4 billion value this year and then jump by another 67% to $101.1 billion in 2023.

Analyzed by geography, the U.S. represents the world's largest public cloud market, expected to generate $172.1 billion, or 50%, of combined revenues this year. This figure is expected to grow by another 35% to $231.7 billion in the next two years.

As the second-largest market globally, China is forecast to generate $57.5 billion in public cloud revenues by 2023, up from $28.8 billion in 2021. The United Kingdom ranked third with $15 billion in revenue in 2021. By 2023, this figure is expected to jump by 33% to $19.9 billion.

Amazon Web Services represents the leading cloud service provider, with a 13.7% market share in 2021. Microsoft Azure ranked as the second-largest provider globally, with a 13.1% market share as of this year. Salesforce, Oracle, and Google Cloud follow with 5.7%, 4.9%, and 4.1% market share, respectively.