Consulting Spend Benchmarks by Industry

TL;DR: Banks and pharma companies are the heaviest consulting spenders at 2–4% of revenue. Healthcare is the fastest-growing category. Energy consulting is growing at 10% annually. Retail is the most polarised — some companies spend heavily, others barely at all. Approximately 7,500 companies globally spend more than $10M per year on consulting. Financial services alone accounts for 22–24% of the global consulting market.

By Ulrik Soeraas, Managing Director and Co-founder of Scopecreeper

Which industries spend the most on consulting?

Financial services and pharma dominate. BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) accounts for 22–24% of the global consulting market according to Mordor Intelligence. Pharma and life sciences follow closely, driven by heavy outsourcing of regulatory, commercial strategy, and R&D-adjacent consulting.

But consulting intensity isn't just about the total spend — it's about what percentage of the company's costs go to consultants. By that measure, healthcare is now the highest-intensity sector. Source Global Research identifies healthcare as the largest consulting buyer category, and research from Alvarez & Marsal found that healthcare has the highest indirect spend as a percentage of revenue of any industry.

Banking and capital markets

Banks are the prototypical consulting-intensive industry. A large bank spends 2–4% of revenue on consulting. JPMorgan Chase alone has an estimated $5–7 billion in consulting and staff augmentation spend, based on analysis of its $17 billion technology budget and $92 billion in total noninterest expense.

The spend is driven by three forces: technology transformation (cloud migration, digital banking, AI), regulatory compliance (Basel requirements, stress testing, AML), and operational restructuring (cost programmes, post-merger integration). Banks also carry massive contingent workforces — Deloitte/MIT Sloan research shows 30–50% of the workforce at large enterprises is external.

There are roughly 1,270 banks globally that spend more than $10M on consulting. The US alone has 4,462 FDIC-insured banks, and the EU has 4,752 credit institutions. Most are small, but a bank with $5–15 billion in assets typically generates $250M–$750M in revenue, putting many in the $10–50M consulting spend range.

Pharma and life sciences

Pharma companies spend 2–4% of revenue on consulting. This excludes CRO (contract research organisation) costs, which are outsourced R&D execution rather than consulting. Including CROs would push external services to 5–8% of revenue, but CROs are procured and managed through different channels. Regulatory consulting, market access advisory, commercial strategy, IT transformation, and specialised scientific consulting are the main consulting spend categories.

Pfizer's estimated consulting spend (excluding CRO contracts, which are outsourced R&D rather than consulting) is $1.2–2.3 billion annually. Including CROs would push external services to $4–7 billion. The company had approximately 83,000 employees and was targeting $4.5 billion in cost realignment savings by end of 2025 — savings that are hard to achieve without first knowing where the money goes.

About 480 pharma and life sciences companies globally spend more than $10M on consulting. The top 25 (each above $10B in revenue) account for a disproportionate share.

Healthcare providers

The newest and fastest-growing category. Hospital systems, health insurers, and digital health platforms are driving spend on consulting for regulatory change, digital health transformation, and operational efficiency. A&M found healthcare has the highest indirect spend as a percentage of revenue of any industry.

Approximately 365 healthcare provider organisations spend more than $10M on consulting globally. Growth in this sector is outpacing every other industry.

Technology and software

The largest pool by count — roughly 1,360 companies above the $10M threshold. Hundreds of SaaS, enterprise software, and platform companies in the £400M–£4B revenue range spend 1.5–3% of revenue on consulting.

The caveat: IT services firms (Accenture, Infosys, Wipro) are not consulting buyers — they are the consultants. Exclude them from the target base. What remains is a large and diverse set of technology companies that buy consulting for M&A integration, market expansion, operating model design, and technology implementation.

18% of TMT organisations spend more than 5% of operating costs on consultants, making it one of the higher-intensity sectors.

Energy and utilities

Below average in consulting intensity (0.5–1.5% of revenue), but the fastest-growing sector in absolute consulting spend. Energy consulting grew 10% in 2024 according to Source Global Research, driven by energy transition, grid modernisation, ESG compliance, and decarbonisation programmes.

A £4B energy company typically spends £20–60M on consulting. Oil majors (Shell, BP, TotalEnergies) and large utilities are the main buyers. About 480 energy and utilities companies globally cross the $10M threshold.

Manufacturing and industrial

Low consulting intensity (0.5–1.5% of revenue) because direct materials dominate procurement spend. But Industry 4.0, supply chain reshoring, and digital transformation are increasing consulting spend steadily. Automotive, chemicals, and industrial goods companies are the main buyers. Roughly 720 manufacturing companies globally spend more than $10M on consulting.

Retail

The most polarised sector. Source Global Research describes it: "a higher proportion of companies spending a lot is partially offset by a higher proportion that don't spend much." Digital-first retailers spend heavily on consulting. Traditional grocery and discount retailers spend very little.

Amazon, Alibaba, and large omnichannel groups are heavy consulting buyers. But a regional supermarket chain with £1.5B in revenue may spend less than £4M. About 295 retailers globally cross the $10M threshold.

Public sector

Doesn't fit revenue brackets but is a major consulting buyer. The UK alone has approximately £1.36–2.23 billion in central government consulting spend (the range reflects inconsistent data, as documented by the NAO in November 2025). The US federal government is the single largest buyer of consulting services in the world.

The UK government has committed to halving consulting spend in 2025-26, targeting £1.2 billion in savings by 2026. But the Public Accounts Committee reported in March 2026 that this target may be unachievable because departments can't reliably isolate and measure their consulting expenditure.

Approximately 170 government bodies globally spend enough on consulting to meet the $10M threshold. See our detailed analysis of public sector consulting spend for more.

How do I use these benchmarks?

Compare your organisation's consulting spend against the industry ranges above. For the methodology behind these estimates, see how to estimate your company's consulting spend. If you're above the range, you may be overspending relative to peers. If you're within the range but can't explain where the money goes, you have a control problem, not necessarily a spending problem.

The real question isn't "how much are we spending?" but "what are we getting for it?" Scopecreeper helps answer both. The discovery engine maps total spend from invoice data. The insights engine then benchmarks your spend against portfolio-level patterns — spend concentration by supplier, rate trends over time, and the distribution of engagement sizes and durations. This gives you the context to decide where to invest more and where to cut.

Where does your industry sit? Scopecreeper maps your consulting spend against these benchmarks and shows you where the savings are. Find out →