The U.S. is expected to see the largest rise in purchases of technology goods and online services in 2010, according to a report by research firm Forrester.

The study reveals that while the U.S. will enjoy an eight per cent rise next week, Europe will see just a four per cent increase.

The report states this difference is down to Europe’s poorer economic climate: “The European economic recession has turned out to be deeper than the US recession, with Europe’s downturn starting later and probably lasting into 2010".

The study claims the UK, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, and Central European countries are expected to perform worse than Europe as a whole.