The market for business process outsourcing (BPO) to offshore service providers is forecast to be worth US$3bn this year, according to new findings from the industry analyst Gartner. The growth represents a 65pc increase from last year's total of US$1.3bn but Gartner has said that such high jumps in revenue won't be seen in the future. In 2004, offshore BPO is expected to represent 2.3pc of the total BPO market, Gartner said. "Offshore BPO is an emerging, but immature, opportunity," said Robert H. Brown, principal analyst for Gartner's sourcing group. "There will be slower adoption of offshore BPO through 2007. As the service delivery matures, and as users and service providers overcome various operational, cultural and sociopolitical issues, growth will resume toward the end of the decade and will synchronize more with overall BPO growth."