Global data centre market to hit US$4 tril by 2030; Apac sees bulk of 2024 investments: Knight Frank
The global information centre market is readied to see rapid growth in the upcoming five years, following a good rebound in 2024. According to Knight Frank’s latest Global Information Centres Report, worldwide information centre property transactions quantity recuperated from an interest rate-hike pushed downtrend in 2023 to hit US$ 31.8 billion ($42.9 billion) in 2024, up 118% y-o-y.
Apac is expected to add 4,174 MW of capacity by 2027, sustained by US$ 58.7 billion in organized financial investments over the very same duration. Key contributors consist of Tokyo, which is forecasted to see US$ 4.1 billion in investments over the next 2 years that will underpin 25% (295 MW) of capability growth.
Johor is also on the right track for further fast growth. Knight Frank estimates the southern Malaysian state will see 85% (335 MW) capacity growth by 2027, backed by US$ 4.7 billion in investment.
The rise in global data facility market activity is expected to proceed in the coming years. Knight Frank approximates that the marketplace is going to notch an annual CAGR of 18% over the next five years, moving it to hit US$ 4 trillion by 2030.
The resilient outlook reflects mounting demand for AI-optimised facilities, cloud services and venture electronic efforts. Knight Frank projects that international information hub capacity will certainly spike 46%, or 20,828 megawatts (MW), over the following two years. By 2030, it predicts capability could increase by 177%.
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Fred Fitzalan-Howard, Knight Frank’s Apac head of information centres, states that the Apac data centre market will certainly add concerning 8 gigawatts of new capacity over the next 3 years, with a quarter of this assigned to AI workloads. While lower than the global average due to the region’s Tier 2 or Tier 3 standing under United States AI diffusion rules, the pipeline stands for US$ 24 billion in capital investment and 20 to 30 million sq ft of property, he adds.
Throughout the causeway, Singapore continues to be a key data centre market in spite of governing and land restrictions. Nonetheless, the report highlights that with uninhabited rates below 1%, transactions in the city-state have moved towards smaller deals, in tandem with a rise in rates.
Fitzalan-Howard views the first financial investments as laying the foundation for more AI infrastructure rollouts in the area. “However, dealing with varied governing structures and adapting to US export controls on AI chips continue to be essential consider maximising Apac’s possibilities in this swiftly advancing field,” he proceeds.
International transaction values averaged US$ 75.4 million in 2024, up 15% y-o-y and 44% more than pre-Covid levels in 2019. Knight Frank’s research also spotted that Asia Pacific (Apac) controlled information centre financial investments, with some US$ 15.5 billion, or 70%, of cross-border information centre deals taking place in the area.
