Alexandra Borgeaud
Research expert covering cybersecurity and tech in Latin America
Software industry in Latin America - Statistics & Facts
The software industry is one of the key components of this technological era. From transportation and manufacturing to nuclear plants and medicine, software holds the power of making our lives easier. Our reliance on software continues to increase as the world rapidly advances in a century of artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, and 5G technologies.
The software industry in Latin America has faced many challenges in its journey towards innovation and growth. Cross-country cultural differences, combined with the variety of government laws and currency restrictions, have made it difficult for Latin American countries to expand their regional software market until recently. In 2022, the software industry in Latin America generated revenue worth 18.6 billion U.S. dollars, with the enterprise software segment accounting for nearly 40 percent of the market.
By contrast, enterprise software is a business-oriented tool, used to satisfy the needs of a company rather than an individual. The number and types of software a company needs varies from one business to another and includes project management, data analysis, and communications tools, in addition to custom-made software programs. As a result, enterprise software has become essential to running a company in the age of digitalization.
The software industry in Latin America has faced many challenges in its journey towards innovation and growth. Cross-country cultural differences, combined with the variety of government laws and currency restrictions, have made it difficult for Latin American countries to expand their regional software market until recently. In 2022, the software industry in Latin America generated revenue worth 18.6 billion U.S. dollars, with the enterprise software segment accounting for nearly 40 percent of the market.
World of Software
Any application used for producing information, such as documents, presentations, databases, and graphs is based on a productivity software: simply put, its name derives from the fact that it increases people’s productivity making them more efficient in their daily activities. In 2023, Latin America’s productivity software industry revenue totaled around 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, out of which 1.4 billion U.S. dollars were generated in South America. It comes as no surprise that office software represented a valuable segment in the productivity software market in Latin America in 2023. Notable features include the ability to always keep applications up to date, safe and secure, and enable effective team collaboration.By contrast, enterprise software is a business-oriented tool, used to satisfy the needs of a company rather than an individual. The number and types of software a company needs varies from one business to another and includes project management, data analysis, and communications tools, in addition to custom-made software programs. As a result, enterprise software has become essential to running a company in the age of digitalization.
The future looks promising
Overall, the software market in Latin America is expected to register significant growth in the upcoming years. For instance, Argentina’s software market was valued at 650.8 million U.S. dollars in 2021 and was expected to increase to over 915 million U.S. dollars by 2028. Moreover, Brazil’s software market was forecast to increase by over three billion U.S. dollars from 2023 to 2028. Why is Latin America the land of hopes concerning the software industry in particular? First, mobile technology and internet usage are rapidly expanding across the region. Second, several governments have implemented measures that facilitate opening a new business, with the purpose of enabling foreign companies to expand more easily in the region. Finally, Latin America is the home of a significant tech workforce, while other regions of the world suffer from both skills gaps and shortages.
