Increasing volumes of transactional data are fuelling the growth of the business intelligence (BI) technology market, according to new research.

The global BI market in 2006 was worth just under $4bn (£2bn) in licencse revenue alone. And analyst Datamonitor predicts it will double by 2012 - a compound annual growth rate of 12.5 per cent.

Declining prices of storage, ubiquitous computing and the drive towards data access and corporate accountability are all causing enterprises to track, monitor and capture increasing volumes of data using BI technologies.

Even the most ephemeral activities such as web browsing generate an enormous volume of digital transactions that can be stored, queried and analysed, said Datamonitor analyst Vuk Trifkovic.

“Add corporate compliance and auditory pressures which also require data to be retained and archived and the volume of data enterprises need to store, examine and analyse is greater than ever before,” said Trifkovic.

Sectors generating high volumes of transactional data, such as financial services, telecommunications, retail and manufacturing, will continue to lead BI spending. The public sector and utilities are also expected to grow by an accelerated rate.