300+ Data Center Stats (August-2026)

Brightlio has compiled the latest data center statistics for 2026, covering global market growth, AI infrastructure, hyperscale development, electricity and water consumption, investment, construction, and regional data center trends.

• The Global Data Center Market
• Data center growth statistics
• Data center industry trends
• The top data center companies and cloud service providers
• Data centers statistics by region, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America

Without further ado, let’s check out the stats!

Global Data Center Market Statistics

The global data center market is massive and growing. Let’s dive into some statistics about the market:

1. More than 11,700 operational data centers were recorded worldwide as of May 2026. The United States accounted for 5,427 of them, or 46% of the global total. (Statista)
2. As of 2026, the countries with the highest number of data centers are:
   • United States (5,427)
   • Germany (529)
   • United Kingdom (523)
   • China (449)
   • Canada (337)
   • France (322)
   • Australia (314)
   • Netherlands (298)
   • Russia (251)
   • Japan (222)
   • Brazil (197)
   • Mexico (173)
   • Italy (168)
   • India (153)
   • Poland (144) (Statista)
3. The global data center market is projected to reach US$538.91 billion in 2026. Revenue is expected to grow at an 8.48% CAGR from 2026 to 2031, reaching US$809.59 billion by 2031. The United States is projected to contribute US$168.51 billion in 2026, the largest share of any country. (Statista)
   
4. Network Infrastructure is the largest segment in data center market revenue, which is projected to reach US$254.80 billion in 2025. (Statista)
   
5. Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft entered 2026 with combined data center capital expenditure plans of nearly $600 billion, reflecting the unprecedented investment being directed toward AI and cloud infrastructure. (Dell’Oro Group)
   
6. NVIDIA’s Data Center revenue reached a record $75.2 billion in the quarter ended April 26, 2026, up 92% year over year. (NVIDIA)
   
7. U.S. data centers currently consume an estimated 17 billion to 19 billion gallons of water annually, with consumption projected to reach 60 billion to 110 billion gallons per year by 2030. (Water Foundation)
   
8. Energy use in cloud computing rises by approximately 10% to 30% annually. (Digital Reality)
   
9. A new data center can require 100 to 1,000 MW of electricity, roughly equal to the power demand of 80,000 to 800,000 average homes. (EPRI)
   
10. Data centers account for about 0.5% of global fuel-combustion CO₂ emissions, with the share projected to reach 1% by 2030. (IEA)
11. Data center CO₂ emissions could rise from about 180 million tonnes today to around 320 million tonnes by 2030. Under a high-growth scenario, emissions could reach 500 million tonnes by 2035. (IEA)
12. Northern Virginia remained the world’s largest data center market in Q1 2026. The leading markets were:
    • Northern Virginia: 4,182.0 MW
    • Atlanta: 1,465.2 MW
    • London: 1,338.4 MW
    • Dallas-Fort Worth: 1,249.4 MW
    • Frankfurt: 1,222.5 MW
    • Tokyo: 1,086.0 MW
    • Chicago: 910.6 MW
    • Paris: 666.8 MW
    • São Paulo: 536.7 MW
    • Northern Virginia added 1,135.9 MW of inventory year over year. (CBRE)
13. The global data center colocation market was valued at $91.1 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow from $99.2 billion in 2026 to $184.4 billion by 2033, at a 9.3% CAGR. North America accounted for 38.4% of global revenue in 2025, while retail colocation represented 69.2% of the market. (Grand View Research)
14. The global edge data center market was valued at $12.82 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to $15.19 billion in 2026. The market is forecast to reach $46.03 billion by 2032, representing a 20.02% CAGR. (Research and Markets)
    
15. The global data center power market is estimated at $25.8 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $71.8 billion by 2033, growing at a 15.7% CAGR. (Grand View Research)
16. IT and telecom accounted for 39.85% of global data center capacity in 2025. (Mordor Intelligence)
17. As of 2025, IBM Cloud operates around 60 data centers across 19 countries. These data centers are spread across various regions, including North America, South America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. (IBM)
18. Research and Markets reports that the solution segment accounted for 77.9% of total Data Center Infrastructure Management revenue share in 2021.
    (Research and Market)
19. Synergy tracks almost 800 future hyperscale data centers and projects hyperscale operators will control 67% of global data center capacity by 2031. (Synergy Research Group)
20. Hyperscale operators ran 1,360 large data centers by the end of 2025 and controlled 48% of global capacity. Enterprise on-premise capacity fell to 32%, while non-hyperscale colocation held 20%. (Data Center Knowledge)
21. Worldwide, the average data center size is 100,000 square ft. (Techjury)
22. China Telecom’s Inner Mongolia Information Park Data Center is the largest data center in the world, with over 10.7 million square feet in space. (Edu Dwar)
23. Alphabet spent $44.9 billion on capital expenditures in Q2 2026, with about 40% of its technical infrastructure investment going to data centers and networking equipment. (Alphabet)
24. In August 2026, Tesla and SpaceX confirmed plans to invest an initial $16.8 billion in Terafab, a proposed 100 million-square-foot AI chip manufacturing complex in Grimes County, Texas. The facility is intended to produce advanced chips for Tesla vehicles, robots, and SpaceX’s planned space-based data centers. (Yahoo Finance)
25. Tahoe Reno 1 from Switch is the largest colocation data center in the world at 1.3 million square feet and up to 130 MW of power. (Switch)
26. Switch’s Citadel Campus in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the third-largest data center in the world and the largest data center outside of China. The Tier IV facility is 7,750,015 square feet. (Ranked.com)
27. AI-focused data centers consumed an estimated 155 TWh of electricity in 2025, according to the IEA. Our World in Data calculates that this represented 0.49% of global electricity generation, using total worldwide generation of about 31,800 TWh in 2025. (Our World in Data)
    
28. Global data center supply reached 16 GW in Q1 2026, up 25% year over year, while the four largest U.S. markets added 1,950.8 MW of capacity. (CBRE)
29. Average server rack densities are rising but still sit below 8 kW, and most facilities don’t support racks over 30 kW. ( Uptime Intelligence )
30. Precedence Research projects the global data center market will grow from $430.18 billion in 2026 to $1,103.70 billion by 2035, reflecting sustained long-term expansion driven by cloud computing, AI workloads, and hyperscale infrastructure development. (Precedence Research)
31. Many hosting providers operate Tier 3 or Tier 4 data centers that deliver uptime guarantees between 99.982% and 99.995%, which shows the high reliability standards required to maintain continuous web hosting services. (Hyperconvergence)
32. Tier 3 facilities held 68.12% of the U.S. data center market in 2025, with 99.982% availability. Tier 4 facilities cost 25% to 40% more but deliver 99.6% fewer annual outage minutes. (Mordor Intelligence)

Data Center Market Statistics

1. The global data center infrastructure market is valued at $256.2 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $789.8 billion by 2035, representing a 12.1% CAGR. AI compute clusters, hyperscale cloud expansion, and edge and 5G infrastructure are major growth drivers. (Global Market Insights)
2. Global data center capacity is projected to nearly double from 103 GW in 2025 to 200 GW by 2030, representing a projected 14% CAGR. (JLL)
3. Worldwide spending on AI-optimized infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is projected to reach $42.3 billion in 2026, representing 96.4% growth from $21.5 billion in 2025. Gartner expects spending to rise further to $66.1 billion in 2027 as AI training and inference increase demand for cloud computing infrastructure. (Gartner)
4. Data center electricity consumption is projected to double by 2030, while power use from AI-focused data centers is expected to triple over the same period. (IEA)
5. The global data center infrastructure management (DCIM) market is projected to reach $4.28 billion in 2026 and grow to $9.89 billion by 2031, representing an 18.25% CAGR. Growth is tied to hyperscale expansion, higher-density computing, automated cooling and power management, and greater use of real-time infrastructure analytics. (Research & Markets)
6. The global data center services market is valued at $172.2 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $422.16 billion by 2032, growing at a 16.12% CAGR. Demand is being driven by AI workloads, colocation, cloud services, and the shift away from capital-intensive on-premises data centers. (Mordor Intelligence)
7. The global modular data center market is valued at $42.65 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $101.22 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 18.87%. AI training clusters, data sovereignty requirements, and demand for faster capacity deployment are key growth drivers. (Mordor Intelligence)
8. The global data center construction market is projected to reach $287.5 billion in 2026 and $662.7 billion by 2033, representing a 12.7% CAGR. Average global data center construction costs are forecast to rise 6% in 2026 to $11.3 million per MW, while AI infrastructure fit-outs can add as much as $25 million per MW beyond shell-and-core construction costs. (Grand View Research, JLL)
9. The global data center life cycle services market is valued at $4.44 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $9.5 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 8.8% from 2026 to 2035. Around 61% of enterprises have adopted modular data center deployment strategies supported by life cycle service providers. (Business Research Insights)
10. North America has more than 66 GW of data center capacity under construction in 2026, while market vacancy remains at just 1% for the third consecutive year. Around 77% of capacity under construction is now located in frontier markets, reflecting the rapid geographic expansion of AI and cloud infrastructure. (JLL)
11. North America held the largest share of the global data center market at 38.3% in 2025. The global data center market was valued at $383.8 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $425.3 billion in 2026. (Grand View Research
12. The U.S. data center market was valued at $126.04 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $276.48 billion by 2033, growing at a 10.4% CAGR from 2026 to 2033. Growth is driven by cloud computing, AI workloads, high-performance computing, and rising data generation. (Grand View Research)
13. India’s installed data center capacity reached about 1.5 GW in 2025 and is projected to exceed 6.5 GW by 2030, representing more than a 4-fold increase in five years. Growth is being driven by AI workloads, hyperscale cloud adoption, 5G, digital payments, and rising domestic data demand. (Rubix Data Sciences)
14. North America’s primary data center markets expanded 36% to 9,432 MW in 2025. (CBRE)
15. Average rental rates for 250 to 500 kW data center requirements across primary U.S. markets are expected to exceed $215 per kW per month in 2026. CBRE raised its rental growth outlook as vacancy remained near record lows and AI demand continued to put pressure on available capacity. (CBRE)

Statistics on Data Center and Artificial Intelligence

1. Capital expenditures from five major technology companies exceeded $400 billion in 2025 and are projected to rise another 75% in 2026. Their combined spending now exceeds worldwide investment in oil and natural gas production. (IEA)
2. The capacity of advanced data centers built specifically as “AI factories” more than tripled during the 18 months preceding April 2026. (IEA)
3. Amazon raised its planned 2026 capital spending from $200 billion to $220 billion, with AI infrastructure representing a major share of the increase. (Associated Press)
4. Alphabet increased its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to $195–205 billion to accelerate data center capacity and meet cloud and AI demand. (Alphabet Investor Relations)
5. Meta expects capital expenditures of $130–145 billion in 2026, including finance-lease payments, as it expands infrastructure for AI and its core services. (Meta Investor Relations)
6. McKinsey estimates that meeting worldwide AI demand will require $5.2 trillion in data center investment and 156 GW of AI-related capacity by 2030. (McKinsey & Company)
7. Of McKinsey’s projected $5.2 trillion AI infrastructure investment, approximately 60% would fund chips and computing hardware, 25% would fund power and cooling, and 15% would fund land and facility construction. (McKinsey & Company)
8. OpenAI reported that Stargate had more than 8 GW of planned U.S. capacity and over $450 billion in planned investment, moving it toward its $500 billion and 10 GW commitment. Stargate is a private infrastructure initiative, not a federal spending program. (OpenAI)
9. AI workloads could account for 50% of global data center capacity by 2030. (JLL)
10. AI data center workloads represented approximately 25% of total data center workloads in 2025 and could reach 50% by 2030. (JLL)
11. AI inference workloads are projected to overtake model training as the primary source of AI data center demand in 2027. (JLL)
12. The average grid-connection wait in major data center markets now exceeds four years, pushing operators toward onsite generation and battery storage. (JLL)
13. Grid constraints could delay approximately 20% of the worldwide data center capacity planned for construction through 2030. (IEA)
14. Data center inventory across the four largest North American markets grew 33% year over year in the first quarter of 2026. Vacancy still fell to 0.3% in Northern Virginia and 1% in Atlanta due largely to hyperscale and AI demand. (CBRE)
15. Electricity consumption at AI-focused data centers is projected to triple between 2025 and 2030, growing much faster than overall data center electricity use. (IEA)
16. AI server power density increased 11-fold from 2020 to 2025 and could rise another fourfold by 2027. A single advanced rack could then have peak power demand comparable to 65 households. (IEA)
17. High-density GPU racks commonly draw 40–130 kW, while future AI chip systems could push rack demand toward 250 kW, increasing the need for direct-to-chip or immersion cooling. (JLL)
18. Data centers could install approximately 20–25 GW of battery storage worldwide by 2030 to manage the rapid power changes created by AI training and inference workloads. (IEA)
19. Approximately 15–27 GW of onsite natural gas generation could power data centers by 2030, primarily in the United States. Reliable onsite systems may require generation capacity 30–70% above the data center’s actual load. (IEA)

Data Center Facts By Region

Not all data centers are the same, and regional resource differences can significantly impact statistics.

Here’s the data center industry overview by region, providing an insight into the diversity of data centers worldwide.

Africa

1. Africa Data Center Facts
2. Africa accounts for only 0.6% of global data center capacity, despite representing almost 19% of the world’s population. (Source: African Data Centres Association)
3. Africa has approximately 360 MW of active data center capacity, with another 238 MW under construction and 656 MW in announced projects. (Source: African Data Centres Association)
4. As of August 2026, Africa has approximately 261 data centers across 43 countries. (Source: Data Center Map)
5. South Africa leads the continent with 63 data centers, followed by Nigeria with 29, Kenya with 19, Morocco with 15, and Tanzania with 11. (Source: Data Center Map)
6. South Africa’s facilities are concentrated in Johannesburg, which has 36 data centers, followed by Cape Town with 13, Durban with 7, and Pretoria with 4. (Source: Data Center Map)
7. Africa’s data center market is estimated at $2.22 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $4.36 billion by 2031, representing a 14.46% compound annual growth rate. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
8. More than 60 new data centers were built across Africa between 2019 and 2024, representing over $2.3 billion in combined investment. (Source: Xalam Analytics and Wingu Africa)
9. A 1 MW data center in Africa typically costs around $10 million to develop. In Nigeria, construction costs can reach approximately $15 million per megawatt. (Source: TechAfrica News)
10. The International Finance Corporation committed $100 million to Raxio Group in 2025, its largest digital infrastructure investment in Africa. The financing supports data centers in Ethiopia, Angola, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda. (Source: Reuters)
11. Pan-African data center projects reported in late 2025 included a 44 MW facility in Kenya, 13 MW in Nigeria, and nearly 14 MW in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Source: Data Center Dynamics)
12. Microsoft plans to invest ZAR 5.4 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure in South Africa through the end of 2027. This follows ZAR 20.4 billion invested over the previous three years. (Source: Microsoft)
13. Visa opened its first South African data center in Johannesburg in 2025 following an investment of approximately ZAR 1 billion, or $56.9 million. (Source: Data Center Dynamics)
14. South African authorities approved proposals for two Equinix data centers near Cape Town in July 2026. The proposed facilities are expected to draw approximately 170 MW of electricity. (Source: Reuters)
15. Teraco’s South African data center platform has approximately 189 MW of operating capacity: 70 MW in Isando, 64 MW in Bredell, 53 MW in Cape Town, and 2 MW in Durban. (Source: Teraco)
16. Teraco’s completed CT2 expansion increased the Cape Town facility’s critical IT load to 50 MW, adding 32 MW across eight new data halls. The facility uses closed-loop cooling that requires no ongoing water consumption for cooling. (Source: Teraco)
17. NAPAfrica, based at Teraco’s facilities, reached peak traffic of 6 Tbps in 2025. It has more than 2,300 physically connected ports and almost 45 Tbps of total connected capacity. (Source: NAPAfrica and Teraco)
18. iXAfrica’s Nairobi data center campus has 22 MW of capacity and can support AI computing densities of up to 50 kW per rack. More than 90% of Kenya’s electricity is generated from renewable sources. (Source: iXAfrica and African Data Centres Association)
19. Microsoft and G42’s proposed Kenyan digital infrastructure initiative is valued at $1 billion. Its planned geothermal-powered data center was initially designed for 100 MW, with the potential to reach 1 GW, although the project remained delayed and under discussion in May 2026. (Source: Microsoft, Reuters, and Data Center Dynamics)
20. Wingu Africa secured $60 million in 2025 to expand its data centers in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Its two Djibouti facilities provide access to 12 operational submarine cable systems. (Source: Wingu Africa)
21. MTN opened the first phase of its Lagos data center in 2025 with 4.5 MW of capacity and room for 780 racks. A planned second phase could raise capacity to between 14 MW and 20 MW, with both phases valued at approximately $235 million. (Source: Data Center Dynamics)
22. Rack Centre opened its LGS2 data center in Lagos in 2025 with 12 MW of capacity, six data halls, and 3,240 square meters of white-floor space. (Source: Data Center Dynamics)
23. Kasi Cloud opened the first phase of its planned 100 MW data center campus in Lekki, Nigeria, in May 2026. The project has a reported value of $250 million and targets a power usage effectiveness rating below 1.6. (Source: Data Center Dynamics)
24. Tetracore and Huawei announced plans in 2026 for a 20 MW, $400 million data center in Nigeria. The facility is expected to use a dedicated 100 MW natural-gas power plant. (Source: Data Center Dynamics)
25. Morocco plans to develop a 500 MW data center in Dakhla that will be powered primarily by renewable energy. The project forms part of the country’s effort to attract cloud and AI infrastructure investment. (Source: Reuters)
26. Telecom Egypt’s RDH1 and RDH2 facilities provide a combined 7.1 MW of capacity, consisting of 2.5 MW at RDH1 and 4.6 MW at RDH2. The full four-stage development is designed to reach 16.3 MW. (Source: Telecom Egypt)

Asia

1. The following 25 statistics cover current data center capacity, investment, electricity demand, and major projects across Asia as of August 2026.
2. Data Center Map lists 1,478 data centers across 26 Asian countries. (Source: Data Center Map)
3. China has 376 listed data centers, followed by India with 305, Japan with 261, South Korea with 105, and Hong Kong with 84. (Source: Data Center Map)
4. China had approximately 32 GW of installed data center capacity at the end of 2025. Announced projects could add 28 GW and raise capacity to 60 GW by 2030, when annual electricity use could reach 289 TWh. (Source: Rystad Energy)
5. China is reportedly preparing a 2 trillion yuan, or approximately $295 billion, five-year plan for a nationwide AI data center network. The proposal remained under development in June 2026. (Source: Reuters and Bloomberg)
6. India’s operational IT capacity reached 1.7 GW in 2026 after quadrupling over six years. Another 1.3 GW was under construction, while projects totaling 3.2 GW had secured land, electricity, and permits. (Source: BloombergNEF)
7. Maharashtra accounts for approximately 55% of India’s active data center capacity and has the country’s largest development pipeline. (Source: BloombergNEF)
8. Electricity demand from Indian data centers is projected to increase from 11 TWh in 2025 to 91 TWh by 2035, representing more than an eightfold increase. (Source: BloombergNEF)
9. Google is investing $15 billion between 2026 and 2030 in an AI and data center campus in Visakhapatnam, India. The project was initially announced with 1 GW of capacity and was later described as capable of scaling to 5 GW. (Source: Google and Reuters)
10. Japan’s data center market is projected to almost double within five years and exceed 5 trillion yen, or approximately $32 billion, by 2028. (Source: IDC Japan and Reuters)
11. Blackstone plans to invest approximately $30 billion in Japanese AI data centers over three to five years. The company is discussing projects with more than 1 GW of combined capacity. (Source: Reuters)
12. SK Group, GS Group, and Naver plan to invest approximately 550 trillion won in South Korean AI data centers with 8.4 GW of initial capacity. Total investment could exceed 1,000 trillion won by 2035. (Source: South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT and Reuters)
13. SK Group and Amazon Web Services are investing approximately 7 trillion won, or $5.11 billion, in an AI data center in Ulsan, South Korea. The facility is planned to begin with 100 MW and could eventually reach 1 GW. (Source: Reuters)
14. Singapore hosts more than 70 data centers with approximately 1.4 GW of combined capacity. The government plans to raise national capacity to about 2 GW by 2030. (Source: Singapore Ministry of Digital Development and Information)
15. Singapore has reserved 20 hectares on Jurong Island for a low-carbon data center park that could support up to 700 MW of capacity. (Source: Singapore Economic Development Board)
16. Malaysia approved RM144.4 billion in data center and cloud computing investments between 2021 and mid-2025. (Source: Malaysian Investment Development Authority)
17. Johor has attracted more than $35 billion in data center investment. Planned and under-construction capacity could increase more than eightfold from current levels to approximately 7,000 MW. (Source: Reuters and JLL)
18. AirTrunk announced a $3 billion investment in two Johor data centers with more than 280 MW of combined capacity. Its four Malaysian facilities will provide over 700 MW, bringing its total investment in the country to $6.8 billion. (Source: Reuters)
19. CoreWeave announced three AI data centers in Indonesia in August 2026 with 360 MW of contracted electricity. These facilities represent the company’s first data center presence in Asia. (Source: Reuters)
20. DayOne signed an approximately 450 MW power agreement for its second hyperscale data center campus in Batam, Indonesia. Electricity will be delivered in phases between 2026 and 2027. (Source: DayOne)
21. Thailand approved four data center projects valued at $3.1 billion in November 2025. The projects included an 84 MW DAMAC Digital facility and a separate 200 MW hyperscale facility. (Source: Thailand Board of Investment and Reuters)
22. Vietnam had 41 active data centers with 221 MW of combined designed capacity as of August 2025. Viettel also began construction on a 140 MW hyperscale facility scheduled for completion in 2030. (Source: Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology and U.S. International Trade Administration)
23. The VITRO Sta. Rosa data center in the Philippines provides 36 MW of IT load across 18 data halls. The facility has space for as many as 4,500 racks and uses a dedicated 60 MW substation. (Source: VITRO Data Center)
24. Hong Kong’s data center market is estimated at $4.9 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $11.64 billion by 2031. IT load capacity is expected to increase from approximately 1.09 GW to 1.36 GW. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
25. Taiwan’s installed data center capacity is estimated at 302.97 MW in 2026 and is projected to reach 468.11 MW by 2031, representing a 9.09% compound annual growth rate. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
26. Bangladesh had approximately 23.55 MW of installed data center IT capacity in 2025. Capacity is forecast to reach 150.6 MW by 2030, representing a 44.93% compound annual growth rate. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)

Australia

1. Australia is a major Asia-Pacific data center market, with rapid growth in AI capacity, construction, electricity demand, and capital investment.
2. Cloudscene lists 314 data centers and 171 colocation providers across Australia. (Cloudscene)
3. Sydney leads Australia with 101 data centers, followed by Melbourne with 51, Perth with 43, Brisbane with 32, Adelaide with 24, and Canberra with 22. (Cloudscene)
4. Australia’s data center market is valued at approximately US$7.25 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach US$8.92 billion by 2031, reflecting a CAGR of 4.25%. (Mordor Intelligence)
5. Australia’s hyperscale data center market is expected to grow from US$6.27 billion in 2026 to US$16.18 billion by 2031, representing a CAGR of 20.88%. (Mordor Intelligence)
6. Arizton tracks approximately 145 operational colocation facilities and 55 upcoming facilities across more than 18 Australian cities. (Arizton)
7. Clean Energy Finance Corporation modeling projects that Australian data center capacity could rise from approximately 1.35 GW in 2025 to between 4.7 GW and 7.4 GW by 2035. (Clean Energy Finance Corporation)
8. Sydney is Australia’s largest data center market and the third-largest market in Asia-Pacific. CBRE tracked approximately 950 MW of live capacity and 1,531 MW of upcoming supply in the first quarter of 2026. (Austrade and CBRE)
9. Melbourne had approximately 580 MW of live capacity and 1,151 MW of upcoming supply in early 2026. Its live capacity increased by approximately 37% during 2025. (CBRE)
10. Sydney’s data center vacancy rate fell to 4.5% in the first quarter of 2026, while average colocation rents reached approximately US$188 per kW per month. (CBRE)
11. The National Electricity Market contained approximately 165 operational data centers in 2026. These facilities consumed about 3% of electricity supplied through the market. (Australian Energy Market Operator)
12. Another 225 data center projects, representing a stated potential capacity of approximately 67 GW, were in development across the National Electricity Market. About 36% of projects included in the previous year’s assessment had been canceled by 2026. (Australian Energy Market Operator)
13. Data center electricity demand in the National Electricity Market is forecast to increase from approximately 5 TWh in 2025–26 to 34 TWh in 2035–36. Its share of total electricity demand could rise from 3% to 13%. (Australian Energy Market Operator)
14. Accommodating projected data center growth while limiting electricity-price and emissions impacts could require an additional 3.2 GW of renewable generation and 1.9 GW of battery storage by 2035. (Clean Energy Finance Corporation)
15. Renewable sources supplied 39.5% of Australia’s total electricity generation in 2025. The renewable share of on-grid generation was 42%, replacing the previous figure of 28%. (Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water)
16. Australia has approximately 6 GW of potential data center capacity in its development pipeline, nearly four times the capacity operating at the end of 2025. The associated construction program could total approximately A$150 billion by 2030. (Commonwealth Bank of Australia)
17. AirTrunk’s Australian campuses provide more than 755 MW of capacity. Its SYD3 campus in western Sydney is designed for more than 400 MW, with approximately 70,000 square meters of technical data-hall space. (AirTrunk)
18. Blackstone completed its acquisition of AirTrunk for approximately A$24 billion in 2024, making it one of the largest digital-infrastructure transactions recorded in Asia-Pacific. (Blackstone)
19. OpenAI and NEXTDC announced plans for an approximately A$7 billion, 550 MW AI data center campus at Eastern Creek in western Sydney. The proposed facility is designed to operate without ongoing potable-water consumption for cooling. (Australian Government and NEXTDC)
20. Amazon Web Services plans to invest A$20 billion between 2025 and 2029 in Australian data center infrastructure. AWS also announced three new solar projects with more than 170 MW of combined capacity. (Amazon Web Services)
21. Microsoft plans to invest A$25 billion by the end of 2029 in Australian AI, cloud, security, and digital infrastructure. The company expects its Australian computing footprint to expand by more than 140%, building on 29 sites across three Azure regions. (Microsoft)
22. CDC Data Centres signed a 555 MW capacity contract with a U.S. customer in 2026. The agreement represents approximately 40% of Australia’s operational data center capacity in 2025 and increased CDC’s contracted capacity to more than 1 GW. (CDC Data Centres)
23. CDC’s planned Marsden Park campus in Sydney is designed to provide 504 MW initially and could eventually be expanded toward 1 GW. (CDC Data Centres)
24. NEXTDC’s M3 Melbourne campus is designed for approximately 225 MW and contains more than 41,000 square meters of technical space. NEXTDC also reports that its infrastructure can support AI deployments requiring as much as 600 kW per rack. (NEXTDC)
25. Macquarie Technology Group’s expanded Macquarie Park campus will provide approximately 63 MW of total capacity. The IC3 Super West development represents an investment of about A$350 million and is scheduled to enter service in 2026. (Macquarie Technology Group)
26. George Town Council approved Firmus Technologies’ proposed 288 MW AI data center at Bell Bay, Tasmania, in August 2026. The approval remained subject to a 14-day appeal period. (George Town Council and The Guardian)

Europe Data Center Facts

Europe’s data center sector is expected to reach 13 GW of capacity in 2026, with AI computing, cloud services, sovereign infrastructure, and power availability influencing where new facilities are built.

1. A Cloudscene-based inventory counted approximately 3,362 data centers across 45 European countries. Germany led with 529, followed by the United Kingdom with 523, France with 322, and the Netherlands with 298. (Cloudscene and Cargoson)
2. Europe’s total data center capacity is forecast to reach 13 GW by the end of 2026, representing a 20% increase from 2025. (CBRE)
3. European hyperscaler self-build capacity is expected to increase by 22% in 2026, while colocation capacity is projected to grow by 18%. (CBRE)
4. AI-focused colocation signings increased from 89 MW in the first half of 2025 to 420 MW in the first half of 2026. Approximately 66% of that contracted capacity is scheduled for Nordic facilities. (CBRE)
5. Europe could attract approximately €176 billion in cumulative colocation data center investment between 2026 and 2031. European IT power demand is projected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 17% over the same period. (European Data Centre Association)
6. The five FLAP-D markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin had approximately 3.8 GW of live capacity in the first half of 2026, up from 1.8 GW in 2019. Another 1.4 GW was under construction, with 2 GW planned. (JLL)
7. FLAP-D markets delivered 194 MW during the first half of 2026 and are forecast to deliver approximately 453 MW for the full year. Paris added 72.5 MW, London 49 MW, Frankfurt 45 MW, Amsterdam 16.3 MW, and Dublin 11.4 MW. (JLL)
8. The FLAP-D colocation vacancy rate was 6.4% in the second quarter of 2026. Frankfurt had the lowest rate at 3.1%, followed by Amsterdam at 6.5%, Dublin at 7.2%, London at 7.4%, and Paris at 8%. (JLL)
9. Prime powered-land costs in FLAP-D markets increased by 82% between 2021 and 2026, rising from €1.24 million to €2.26 million per MW. Primary-market land costs approximately 2.3 times more than secondary-market land and four times more than tertiary-market land. (JLL)
10. Greenfield sites represented 8% of the European development pipeline in earlier years but account for 39% of the 2026–2028 pipeline. Planned hyperscale facilities now sit an average of 175 kilometers from a major hub, compared with 46 kilometers for projects planned between 2022 and 2025. (JLL)
11. European data center electricity consumption is projected to increase by more than 45 TWh, or approximately 70%, between 2024 and 2030. Data centers could account for about 10% of total European Union electricity-demand growth through 2030. (International Energy Agency)
12. Renewable and nuclear energy are projected to supply a combined 85% of the electricity used by European data centers by 2030. (International Energy Agency)
13. European Union data centers with at least 500 kW of installed IT power must report annual energy, water, renewable-power, and waste-heat performance data. The first reporting period received information from 770 facilities, representing approximately 36% of the expected facilities. (European Commission)
14. The European Union has set a policy objective to triple its data center capacity by 2035 through its planned Cloud and AI Development Act and related digital-infrastructure programs. (European Commission)
15. The European Union launched a tender for up to seven AI gigafactories in July 2026. The program is intended to attract more than €30 billion in public and private investment, with each facility expected to contain more than 100,000 advanced AI processors. (European Commission)
16. Germany had approximately 2,000 data centers with connections above 100 kW in 2025. Their combined capacity reached 2.98 GW and is projected to exceed 5 GW by 2030. (Bitkom)
17. German AI data center capacity is forecast to increase from 530 MW in 2025 to 2.02 GW by 2030. AI’s share of the country’s data center capacity could rise from approximately 15% to 40%. (Bitkom)
18. Irish data centers consumed 7,663 GWh of electricity in 2025, representing 23% of the country’s metered electricity consumption. Their electricity use increased by 10% in one year and has risen from a 5% share in 2015. (Central Statistics Office Ireland)
19. Approximately 140 United Kingdom data center projects were seeking transmission connections, representing about 50 GW of requested capacity. That total equaled roughly two-thirds of the United Kingdom’s approximately 75 GW grid capacity. (Savills)
20. Spain had 439 MW of commercial data center IT capacity at the end of 2025, up 24% from 2024. Capacity could reach 2.54 GW by 2030, while direct and indirect investment could total €66.9 billion. (SpainDC)
21. Italy had approximately 174 active data centers in 2026, with a secured development pipeline exceeding 1.2 GW. Milan remained the country’s main data center cluster. (Colliers)
22. Central and Eastern Europe is expected to reach approximately 883 MW of data center IT capacity in 2026. Poland’s capacity is projected to rise from 197 MW in 2024 to 511 MW by 2031. (European Data Centre Association)
23. SoftBank plans to develop 5 GW of AI data center capacity in France. The first phase targets 3.1 GW by 2031 across locations including Dunkirk, Bosquel, and Bouchain. (SoftBank Group)
24. Mistral AI announced a €1.2 billion investment in an AI data center at EcoDataCenter’s Borlänge campus in Sweden. The campus is designed for 250 MW in its first phase and could eventually reach 600 MW. (Mistral AI and EcoDataCenter)
25. Nebius announced a planned US$10 billion, 310 MW AI data center in Lappeenranta, Finland. The facility is expected to begin operating in phases from 2027. (Nebius and Reuters)

United States

1. Cloudscene currently catalogs 5,427 data centers in the United States, along with 20,056 cloud service providers, 86 network fabrics, and 755 certified colocation facilities. (Source: Cloudscene)
2. Data Center Map lists 4,767 U.S. facilities. Virginia leads with 674, followed by Texas with 537, California with 296, Georgia with 276, Illinois with 242, and Ohio with 240. (Source: Data Center Map)
3. The U.S. data center market is valued at approximately US$122.08 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach US$168.34 billion by 2031, representing a CAGR of 6.64%. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
4. The installed U.S. data center base is projected to increase from 57.08 GW in 2025 to 109.56 GW in 2030, representing a CAGR of 13.93%. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
5. Colocation accounted for 56.48% of the U.S. data center market in 2025, while Tier III facilities represented 68.12% of the market. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
6. Data centers directly consumed approximately 17.4 billion gallons of water in the United States during 2023. Annual direct consumption could reach 38 to 73 billion gallons by 2028. (Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
7. Data centers are expected to account for nearly 50% of U.S. electricity-demand growth through 2030, largely due to AI servers and other high-density computing systems. (Source: International Energy Agency)
8. The vacancy rate across primary U.S. data center markets fell to a record 1.4% at the end of 2025, leaving limited immediately available capacity for large deployments. (Source: CBRE)
9. Data center supply across primary U.S. markets increased 36% during 2025 and reached 9,432 MW. This followed a 34% increase during 2024. (Source: CBRE)
10. Primary U.S. data center markets recorded 2,497.6 MW of net absorption in 2025, compared with the previous record of 1,809.5 MW in 2024. (Source: CBRE)
11. Northern Virginia recorded 1,102 MW of net absorption in 2025, the highest among primary U.S. markets. Dallas absorbed 470.8 MW, an annual increase of 424 MW. (Source: CBRE)
12. Approximately 5,994.4 MW of capacity was under construction across primary U.S. markets at the end of 2025, down from 6,350.1 MW one year earlier as power, zoning, and permitting delays affected projects. (Source: CBRE)
13. The average asking rate for requirements between 250 and 500 kW reached a record US$196.25 per kW per month at the end of 2025, an annual increase of 6.6%. Pricing for requirements between 3 and 10 MW rose 12.5%. (Source: CBRE)
14. Annual investment volume for operating data centers was approximately US$3 billion in 2025, nearly 50% lower than in 2024 as power and entitlement delays extended transaction timelines. (Source: CBRE)
15. At least 36 U.S. states now offer targeted incentives for data center development, including sales-tax exemptions, equipment-tax exemptions, and property-tax abatements. (Source: CBRE)
16. Data centers are expected to contribute nearly 50% of Loudoun County’s property-tax revenue in 2026, reflecting Northern Virginia’s heavy dependence on the industry. (Source: CBRE)
17. Grid capacity for existing data center projects is largely committed through 2030 in many U.S. markets. This has increased interest in on-site natural gas, batteries, wind, solar, and other dedicated power systems. (Source: CBRE)
18. Cleanview’s August 2026 project tracker records 1,301 operating U.S. data centers with approximately 61,148 MW of reported capacity. It also tracks 2,059 planned projects representing as much as 378,246 MW, although many remain preliminary and may not be completed. (Source: Cleanview)
19. OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank’s announced Stargate sites represent nearly 7 GW of planned AI capacity and more than US$400 billion of investment over three years. The sites are expected to create more than 25,000 on-site jobs. (Source: OpenAI)
20. Meta’s Hyperion data center campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana, is backed by a US$27 billion financing agreement and is expected to provide more than 2 GW of AI computing capacity. (Source: Reuters)
21. Amazon reported US$60 billion in U.S. data center investment announcements during 2025, including US$20 billion in Pennsylvania, US$15 billion in Indiana, US$11 billion in Georgia, US$10 billion in North Carolina, US$3 billion in Mississippi, and US$1 billion in Ohio. (Source: Amazon)
22. Amazon increased its planned Louisiana data center investment to US$18 billion in 2026. Its three planned campuses are expected to create up to 750 full-time data center jobs, while Amazon has committed as much as US$400 million for local water infrastructure. (Source: Amazon)
23. Google plans to invest more than US$25 billion in data centers and AI infrastructure across the PJM electricity region during 2025 and 2026, alongside a US$3 billion hydropower agreement. Microsoft has separately committed more than US$7 billion to two AI data centers in Wisconsin. (Source: Google and Microsoft)
24. Illinois hosts over 222 data center facilities, supported by low electricity costs averaging $0.06 per kilowatt-hour and a climate that allows for outside-air cooling on approximately 300 days each year. (Illinois Data Center Article – Brightlio)
25. Connecticut has 59 data centers. In Hartford, temperatures range between 21°F and 84°F over the year. Internet speeds average 119.13 Mbps, reaching up to 8 Gbps with Optimum. Energy costs are 9.75¢ per kWh through Eversource and 11.68¢ per kWh through United Illuminating.
26. Reno has 25 data centers. Temperatures range from 23°F to 90°F throughout the year. Average internet speed is 109 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps. Energy costs stand at 15¢ per kWh.
27. Florida has 121 data centers. In Miami, temperatures range from 63°F to 89°F, with August as the hottest month. Average internet speed is around 119 Mbps, reaching up to 10 Gbps with providers like AT&T Fiber. Energy costs average 17¢ per kWh.
28. Utah has 43 data centers, mostly in Salt Lake City and Orem. Temperatures range from 23°F to 93°F over the year. Average internet speed is around 314 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs average 8.41¢ per kWh.
29. Iowa hosts 100 data centers, mainly in Des Moines and Council Bluffs. Annual temperatures range from 17°F to 86°F. Average internet speed is about 150.74 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 8.65¢ per kWh.
30. Ohio hosts 179 data centers, with over 100 in Central Ohio, including sites for Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Temperatures range from 22°F to 84°F annually. Average internet speed is about 168.27 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 10.68¢ per kWh.
31. Maryland hosts 44 data centers, mainly in Baltimore and Frederick. Annual temperatures range from 24°F to 89°F. Average internet speed is about 238.26 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 13.55¢ per kWh.
32. New Jersey hosts 76 data centers, with major hubs in Piscataway, Secaucus, and Newark. Annual temperatures range from 21°F to 85°F. Average internet speed is about 279.77 Mbps, reaching up to 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 14.76¢ per kWh.
33. Southern California hosts 80 data centers, mostly in Los Angeles and San Diego. Annual temperatures in Los Angeles range from 48°F to 84°F. Average internet speed is about 334 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 23.13¢ per kWh.
34. New York hosts 140 data centers, mainly in New York City, Buffalo, and Albany. Annual temperatures range from 28°F to 84°F. Average internet speed is about 448.9 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 15.28¢ per kWh.
35. Oregon hosts 131 data centers, mostly in Portland, Eugene, and Bend. Annual temperatures range from 36°F to 83°F. Average internet speed is about 164.69 Mbps, reaching up to 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 10.58¢ per kWh.
36. Texas hosts 350 data centers, with major hubs in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Annual temperatures range from 39°F to 96°F. Average internet speed is about 426 Mbps, reaching up to 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 7.18¢ per kWh.
37. Northern Virginia hosts over 300 data centers, mostly in Ashburn, known as “Data Center Alley.” Annual temperatures in Fairfax range from 27°F to 86°F. Average internet speed is about 155 Mbps, with a maximum of 5 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 9.25¢ per kWh.
38. Georgia hosts 148 data centers, with most located in Atlanta. Annual temperatures range from 33°F to 89°F. Average internet speed is about 415 Mbps, with a maximum of 5 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 9.94¢ per kWh.
39. Arkansas hosts 5 data centers, mainly in Little Rock and West Memphis. Annual temperatures in Little Rock range from 34°F to 93°F. Average internet speed is about 254.61 Mbps, with a maximum of 5 Gbps through providers like EarthLink and AT&T. Energy costs are 10.11¢ per kWh.
40. Kansas City hosts 12 data centers. Annual temperatures range from 24°F to 90°F. Average internet speeds are about 234 Mbps download and 154 Mbps upload, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 9.45¢ per kWh.
41. Indianapolis hosts 30 data centers. Annual temperatures range from 22°F to 85°F. Average internet speed is about 279 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 12.31¢ per kWh.
42. Cincinnati hosts 21 data centers. Annual temperatures range from 24°F to 86°F. Average internet speed is about 146 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 10.68¢ per kWh.
43. Pittsburgh hosts about 35 data centers, representing 42% of Pennsylvania’s total. Annual temperatures range from 23°F to 83°F. Average internet speed is about 208 Mbps, with a maximum of 10 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 12.14¢ per kWh.
44. Milwaukee hosts 20 data centers. Annual temperatures range from 18°F to 81°F. Average internet speed is about 227 Mbps, with a maximum of 8 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 11.76¢ per kWh.
45. Cleveland hosts 24 data centers, with operators like H5 Data Centers, Expedient, DataBank, and BlueBridge Networks. Annual temperatures range from 24°F to 83°F. Average internet speeds are about 135 Mbps download and 57 Mbps upload, with a maximum of 5 Gbps through fiber providers. Energy costs are 10.68¢ per kWh.
46. Detroit has 42 data centers, with average annual temperatures between 21°F and 83°F. Internet speeds average around 90 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, with maximum speeds reaching 2 Gbps through some fiber providers. As of May 2025, commercial electricity in Michigan costs 19.17¢ per kWh.
47. Minneapolis has 52 data centers, with yearly temperatures ranging from 10°F to 83°F. Average internet speeds are 221 Mbps down and 182 Mbps up, with some providers offering up to 10 Gbps, and the commercial electricity rate is 10.98¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
48. Massachusetts has 50 data centers across 10 markets, with 31 in Boston, where temperatures range from 24°F to 82°F. Average internet speed is about 109.6 Mbps, with fiber options reaching 8 Gbps, and electricity costs 22.46¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
49. Las Vegas hosts 32 data centers, with average internet speeds around 248.15 Mbps and peak speeds reaching 8 Gbps through select fiber providers. As of May 2025, the commercial electricity rate in Nevada is 9.85¢ per kWh, and local temperatures range from 38°F to 105°F.
50. Albuquerque is home to 17 data centers, serving as New Mexico’s main hub, with average internet speeds around 176 Mbps down and 26.77 Mbps up, and maximum speeds reaching 8 Gbps through providers like Quantum Fiber. As of May 2025, commercial electricity costs average 9.69¢ per kWh, and temperatures range from 29°F to 92°F annually.
51. Charlotte hosts 83 data centers across 14 markets in North Carolina, with average internet speeds between 250–500 Mbps down and 10–25 Mbps up, and peak speeds reaching 10 Gbps through select fiber providers. As of May 2025, the commercial electricity rate averages 10.92¢ per kWh, and the city’s temperatures range from 33°F to 89°F throughout the year.
52. Raleigh hosts 24 data centers, with average internet speeds of 235 Mbps and peaks up to 10 Gbps. Temperatures range from 33°F to 89°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 10.92¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
53. Jacksonville hosts 17 data centers, with average internet speeds of 129 Mbps down and 22 Mbps up, and maximum speeds reaching 10 Gbps. Temperatures range from 46°F to 90°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 12.03¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
54. Philadelphia hosts 88 data centers across 12 markets, with average internet speeds of 205 Mbps and maximum speeds up to 10 Gbps. Temperatures range from 27°F to 86°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 12.14¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
55. Nashville hosts 27 data centers, leading the market in Tennessee, with average internet speeds of 132 Mbps down and 59 Mbps up, and maximum speeds reaching 8 Gbps. Annual temperatures range from 31°F to 90°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 11.46¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
56. Salt Lake City hosts 29 data centers, contributing to Utah’s 43 total across six markets, with average internet speeds around 237 Mbps and peaks up to 10 Gbps. Temperatures range from 26°F to 94°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 7.77¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
57. Colorado hosts 55 data centers across four markets, with most located in Denver, and offers average internet speeds of 176 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, reaching up to 10 Gbps. Denver’s temperatures range from 22°F to 89°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 11.12¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
58. Houston hosts 32 data centers, with average internet speeds of 155 Mbps down and 23 Mbps up, and maximum speeds reaching 10 Gbps. Annual temperatures range from 47°F to 95°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 7.43¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
59. Atlanta hosts 148 data centers, serving as a major hub in Georgia, with average internet speeds of 133 Mbps down and 42 Mbps up, and peak speeds reaching 10 Gbps. Temperatures range from 33°F to 89°F, and the commercial electricity rate is 11.49¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
60. Phoenix hosts 130 data centers, with average internet speeds of 155 Mbps (up to 8 Gbps), annual temperatures from 44°F to 106°F, and commercial electricity rates averaging 11.92¢ per kWh as of May 2025.
61. South Carolina hosts over 35 data centers, backed by low-cost power, expanding fiber and subsea connectivity, and major investments from companies like Google, Meta, and DC BLOX, making it a growing hub for AI, cloud, and colocation infrastructure.
62. Maine hosts 7 data centers supported by 5.25 GW grid capacity, commercial electricity at 20.63¢/kWh, average internet of 26.1 Mbps with gigabit in select areas, and a climate ranging from -5°C in January to 21°C in July with September as the wettest month.
63. The United States contains 15 of the world’s 20 largest hyperscale data center markets. Approximately 62% of hyperscale operators are headquartered in the United States. (Source: Synergy Research Group)
64. Northern Virginia represents nearly 12% of global hyperscale data center capacity, while operational hyperscale capacity in Texas increased 71% during the latest reported year. (Source: Synergy Research Group)
65. U.S. private data center construction spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$50.7 billion in April 2026, up from US$39.8 billion one year earlier. This represented annual growth of approximately 27%. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
66. ERCOT was considering more than 474 GW of large-load connection requests in August 2026, more than five times Texas’ record peak electricity demand. The state ordered an audit of approximately 250 to 300 projects, most of which were data centers. (Source: Office of the Texas Governor and ERCOT)
67. Proposed U.S. gas-fired generation linked specifically to data centers reached approximately 189 GW in the first half of 2026, nearly double the capacity reported at the end of 2025. Approximately 86% of the proposed capacity remained in an early or preliminary stage. (Source: Global Energy Monitor)
68. SpaceXAI announced a US$20 billion data center in Southaven, Mississippi. The MACROHARDRR facility is planned to provide approximately 2 GW of AI computing capacity, making it the largest announced private investment in Mississippi’s history. (Source: Associated Press)
69. SpaceXAI’s Colossus supercomputer in Memphis contains approximately 200,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs in one interconnected cluster. The company plans to expand its Memphis computing infrastructure to as many as 1 million GPUs. (Source: SpaceXAI)
70. U.S. single-asset, single-borrower commercial mortgage-backed securities issuance reached a record US$11.2 billion in 2025. Data center transactions accounted for approximately 11% of total issuance, also a record share. (Source: CBRE)
71. Data center opponents organized 142 protests across 42 states in July 2026. A Reuters and Ipsos poll found that only 14% of Americans supported the construction of a data center in their community. (Source: Reuters and Ipsos)
72. AI data center racks can require approximately 80 to 130 kW per rack, compared with 6 to 8 kW for traditional workloads. U.S. utilities are reporting power-delivery and transmission-upgrade timelines of approximately five to seven years in constrained markets. (Source: Mordor Intelligence)
73. Kentucky has 28 data centers operated by 15 providers, anchored by a 150 MW Core Scientific campus and a planned 402 MW, 1.8 million ft² hyperscale project in Louisville
    

Canada

1. Canada has 337 data centers. Toronto leads with 121, followed by Montreal with 65 and Vancouver with 43. (Cloudscene)
2. Canada’s data center market is projected to grow from US$13.06 billion in 2026 to US$25.09 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 13.95%. (Mordor Intelligence)
3. Canada’s installed data center IT load is forecast to rise from 3.13 GW in 2025 to 3.97 GW by 2030. (Mordor Intelligence)
4. The Canadian AI data center market is projected to increase from US$500 million in 2025 to US$2.16 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 33.91%. (Mordor Intelligence)
5. Canada has an estimated 540 MW of active AI-dedicated data center capacity in 2026. This capacity is forecast to reach 1 GW by 2031. (ABI Research)
6. Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec account for approximately 85% of Canada’s live and under-construction data center IT capacity. (Rabobank)
7. Canada generated 625.2 million MWh of electricity in 2025. Hydroelectricity supplied 54.9%, nuclear supplied 13%, and wind and solar supplied a combined 9%. (Statistics Canada)
8. Canada plans to double national electricity generation and grid capacity by 2050, requiring an estimated C$1 trillion in investment. (Reuters)
9. The Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy provides C$2 billion over five years, including up to C$700 million for increased domestic AI computing capacity. (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
10. Meta is investing more than C$13 billion in a 1 GW AI data center in Alberta that can expand to 1.8 GW. It will be Meta’s first data center in Canada. (Meta and Reuters)
11. Alberta is seeking C$100 billion in data center investment and had received nearly 100 project proposals by July 2026. (Reuters)
12. Bell reported approximately 800 MW of prospective AI infrastructure capacity across Canada in August 2026, with around 335 MW contracted, including its 300 MW Saskatchewan project. (BCE)
13. BC Hydro received 15 data center and AI applications requesting nearly 800 MW of electricity, compared with an available allocation of 400 MW. Quebec data center demand could also increase from approximately 200 MW to more than 1,000 MW by 2035. (BC Hydro and Hydro-Québec)
14. Microsoft plans to invest C$19 billion in Canada between 2023 and 2027, including more than C$7.5 billion during 2026 and 2027. (Microsoft)
15. AWS expects its Canadian cloud-infrastructure investment to reach C$24.8 billion by 2037, supporting more than 9,300 jobs annually and contributing approximately C$42.3 billion to Canada’s GDP. (Amazon Web Services)

Mexico

1. Mexico has 173 data centers. Mexico City leads with 40, followed by Querétaro with 28 and Monterrey with 16. (Cloudscene)
2. Mexico’s data center market is projected to grow from US$1.33 billion in 2026 to US$2.53 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 13.74%. (Mordor Intelligence)
3. Mexico’s installed data center IT load is forecast to rise from 530 MW in 2025 to 1.27 GW by 2030, at a CAGR of 19.03%. (Mordor Intelligence)
4. Mexico’s hyperscale data center market is expected to increase from US$440 million in 2026 to US$1.02 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 18.57%. (Mordor Intelligence)
5. Colocation represented 83.1% of Mexico’s data center market in 2025, while Tier III facilities accounted for 83.2%. (Mordor Intelligence)
6. Querétaro, Mexico City, and Monterrey represented approximately 78% of Mexico’s installed hyperscale data center capacity in 2025. (Mordor Intelligence)
7. AWS, Microsoft, Equinix, KIO Networks, and ODATA controlled approximately 62% of Mexico’s installed hyperscale capacity in 2025. (Mordor Intelligence)
8. Mexico’s data center industry is expected to require an additional 1,516 MW of electricity capacity between 2025 and 2030. (Mexican Association of Data Centers)
9. Data center projects could attract US$18.14 billion in direct investment and US$54.43 billion in indirect investment through 2030, supporting approximately 20,700 direct jobs. (Mexican Association of Data Centers)
10. AWS plans to invest more than US$5 billion in Mexico over 15 years. Its Querétaro cloud region has three availability zones and is expected to support more than 7,000 jobs annually. (Amazon Web Services)
11. Microsoft announced a US$1.3 billion investment in Mexican cloud and AI infrastructure over three years, together with an AI training program targeting 5 million people. (Microsoft)
12. Google opened its 41st global cloud region in Querétaro, its third region in Latin America. Oracle operates two Mexican cloud regions, located in Querétaro and Monterrey. (Google Cloud and Oracle)
13. CloudHQ plans to invest US$4.8 billion in six Querétaro data centers with up to 900 MW of total power capacity. The first 200 MW phase is planned for 2027, subject to a long-term tenant agreement. (CloudHQ and Reuters)
14. ODATA’s DC QR03 project in Querétaro represents an investment of more than US$3 billion and is designed for 300 MW of IT capacity. Its supporting power infrastructure is expanding toward 400 MW. (ODATA)
15. KIO Data Centers is evaluating an investment of up to US$1.3 billion through 2030 for a new 100 MW Querétaro facility. KIO also committed more than US$200 million to Mexican projects during 2026. (KIO Data Centers)

South America

1. Cloudscene lists 197 data centers in Brazil, 59 in Chile, 41 in Colombia, 29 in Argentina, and 21 in Peru. (Cloudscene)
2. South America’s data center market is projected to grow from US$4.19 billion in 2026 to US$7.05 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 10.96%. (Mordor Intelligence)
3. The region’s installed data center IT load is forecast to increase from 1.51 GW in 2025 to 2.23 GW by 2030, at a CAGR of 8.16%. (Mordor Intelligence)
4. South America’s AI data center market is expected to grow from US$1.24 billion in 2026 to US$2.72 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 16.98%. (Mordor Intelligence)
5. Colocation represented 76.02% of South America’s data center market in 2025, while large facilities accounted for 53.62% of regional capacity. (Mordor Intelligence)
6. Brazil controlled 72.88% of South America’s installed data center capacity in 2025. It also represented 56.7% of the regional AI data center market. (Mordor Intelligence)
7. São Paulo had 536.7 MW of inventory in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 165.8 MW in Santiago and 44.3 MW in Bogotá. (CBRE)
8. Chile’s installed data center capacity is projected to grow from 410.59 MW in 2026 to 596.24 MW by 2031, at a CAGR of 7.75%. (Mordor Intelligence)
9. AWS plans to invest R$10.1 billion, approximately US$1.8 billion, in Brazilian data center infrastructure through 2034. It also plans to invest more than US$4 billion in Chile over 15 years. (Amazon Web Services)
10. Microsoft is investing R$14.7 billion, approximately US$2.7 billion, in Brazilian cloud and AI infrastructure over three years. Its related training program targets 5 million people. (Microsoft)
11. A planned data center at Brazil’s Pecém port complex represents an estimated R$50 billion, or US$9.25 billion, in investment and approximately 300 MW of power demand. TikTok is expected to be its sole client, although ByteDance has not publicly confirmed its involvement. (Omnia, Casa dos Ventos, and Reuters)
12. Scala’s proposed AI City in Rio Grande do Sul has approval for a 5 GW grid connection and could eventually provide 4.75 GW of capacity. Its initial phase is a 54 MW facility valued at approximately US$500 million. (Scala Data Centers and Data Center Dynamics)
13. Google is investing more than US$850 million in a hyperscale data center in Canelones, Uruguay. The project is Google’s second and largest data center in Latin America. (Google and U.S. International Trade Administration)
14. Aligned Data Centers’ BG-02 and BG-03 projects in Colombia are designed to provide a combined 144 MW of additional capacity. (Aligned Data Centers)
15. OpenAI and Sur Energy signed a letter of intent for a potential US$25 billion, 500 MW AI data center project in Argentina. The proposal remains subject to final investment and construction agreements. (Reuters)

Data Center I.T. Spending

Global data center IT spending continues to rise as operators purchase AI servers, storage systems, networking equipment, cloud capacity, and supporting power and cooling infrastructure.

1. Worldwide spending on data center systems is forecast to increase from $506 billion in 2025 to $822 billion in 2026, representing annual growth of 62.5%. (Gartner)
2. Global data center IT capital expenditure is on pace to exceed $1 trillion in 2026. This includes spending by cloud providers, enterprises, colocation companies, telecommunications operators, and AI infrastructure providers. (Dell’Oro Group)
3. Worldwide data center capital expenditure could surpass $3 trillion by 2030, including approximately $1.2 trillion in real estate asset creation and another $1–2 trillion in tenant spending on GPUs, servers, and networking equipment. The four largest U.S. hyperscalers could account for approximately 50% of global spending. (JLL, Dell’Oro Group)
4. Infrastructure-as-a-service spending is expected to rise from $222 billion in 2025 to $287 billion in 2026, an increase of 29.3%. (Gartner)
5. Worldwide server revenue reached $122.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 30.4% from the previous year. Server unit shipments increased by only 3.3%, reflecting the higher cost of GPU and accelerated-computing systems. (IDC)
6. The worldwide server market is forecast to reach approximately $647 billion in 2026, up 42.7%, before climbing to about $931 billion in 2027. (IDC)
7. AI infrastructure spending reached $89.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, representing year-over-year growth of 33.1%. (IDC)
8. Full-year AI infrastructure spending is forecast to reach $497 billion in 2026, approximately 56% more than the $318 billion spent in 2025. (IDC)
9. Global AI infrastructure spending is projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2029 and reach approximately $1.21 trillion by 2030, reflecting a five-year CAGR of about 30%. (IDC)
10. Servers accounted for $87.6 billion, or 97.6%, of AI infrastructure spending during the first quarter of 2026. Storage represented $2.2 billion, or 2.4%. (IDC)
11. Worldwide external enterprise storage revenue reached $9.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 22.7% year over year as AI storage demand and delayed infrastructure refreshes increased spending. (IDC)
12. Revenue from server and storage system components, including processors, AI accelerators, memory, and storage devices, is forecast to grow by 75% in 2026. (Dell’Oro Group)
13. Cumulative spending on switches for AI back-end networks is forecast to approach $1 trillion from 2026 through 2030. Scale-up networking could account for more than 50% of this market by 2030. (Dell’Oro Group)
14. The data center physical infrastructure market generated $12 billion in manufacturer revenue during the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 28% from the previous year. This category includes power, cooling, rack, and infrastructure-management systems. (Dell’Oro Group)
15. Worldwide data center physical infrastructure revenue is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 22% from 2025 through 2030, reaching approximately $120 billion by the end of the period. (Dell’Oro Group)

Data Center Electricity Usage Statistics

1. Global data center electricity consumption grew 17% in 2025 to approximately 485 TWh. The International Energy Agency projects that consumption will nearly double to 950 TWh by 2030. (International Energy Agency)
2. U.S. data centers are projected to consume approximately 649 TWh of electricity in 2030, equal to about 11.8% of total U.S. electricity use. Depending on AI hardware deployment and utilization, consumption could range from 521 TWh to 843 TWh, or 9.5% to 15.3% of U.S. electricity consumption. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
3. Electricity consumption from AI-focused data centers increased by approximately 50% in 2025, much faster than overall data center electricity demand. (International Energy Agency)
4. Global data center electricity consumption is projected to reach approximately 950 TWh by 2030, accounting for around 3% of worldwide electricity demand. (International Energy Agency)
5. Electricity consumption from AI-focused data centers is expected to triple between 2025 and 2030. (International Energy Agency)
6. U.S. data centers consumed approximately 176 TWh in 2023, representing 4.4% of total U.S. electricity consumption, up from 58 TWh in 2014. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
7. U.S. data center electricity consumption could reach 325 to 580 TWh by 2028, equal to approximately 6.7% to 12% of national electricity use. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
8. Electricity used by U.S. data center servers more than tripled from approximately 30 TWh in 2014 to nearly 100 TWh in 2023. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
9. GPU-accelerated server electricity use increased from less than 2 TWh in 2017 to more than 40 TWh in 2023. Conventional server consumption also doubled from approximately 30 TWh in 2014 to nearly 60 TWh in 2023. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
10. Hyperscale and colocation facilities accounted for almost 80% of U.S. server electricity consumption in 2023 and are projected to exceed 90% by 2028. Internal data centers could represent less than 2% by 2028. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
11. Average U.S. data center Power Usage Effectiveness improved from approximately 1.6 in 2014 to 1.4 in 2023. Berkeley Lab projects an average PUE of 1.15 to 1.35 by 2028. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
12. The United States and China are expected to account for nearly 80% of global data center electricity consumption growth through 2030. U.S. consumption could increase by approximately 240 TWh, while consumption in China could rise by about 175 TWh. (International Energy Agency)
13. Data centers are projected to account for almost 50% of U.S. electricity demand growth through 2030. U.S. electricity consumption for data processing could exceed the combined electricity used to manufacture aluminum, steel, cement, and chemicals. (International Energy Agency)
14. Coal currently supplies approximately 30% of the electricity physically consumed by data centers worldwide. Renewables provide 27%, natural gas supplies 26%, and nuclear energy contributes 15%. Renewables are expected to meet nearly 50% of additional data center electricity demand through 2030. (International Energy Agency)
15. Irish data centers consumed 7,663 GWh in 2025, an increase of 10% from 2024. They accounted for 23% of Ireland’s total metered electricity consumption, compared with 5% in 2015. (Central Statistics Office Ireland)

Global and U.S. estimates use different geographic scopes and methodologies, so the figures should not be added together.

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FAQs

What is the growth rate of the data center industry?

The data center industry continues to expand rapidly as demand for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital services, and high-performance computing increases. Growth estimates vary depending on whether a study measures data center facilities, infrastructure, services, or capacity. For example, the International Energy Agency projects global data center electricity consumption to grow by about 15% annually between 2024 and 2030, reflecting the rapid expansion of computing infrastructure worldwide.

How is data center capacity measured?

Data center capacity is most commonly measured in megawatts (MW) of critical IT power. Large campuses may be measured in gigawatts (GW). Other important measures include square footage, rack capacity, power density, cooling capacity, network connectivity, and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). For modern hyperscale and AI data centers, power capacity is generally more useful than floor area alone.

How many data centers are there worldwide in 2026?

There is no single universally accepted global total because different databases use different definitions and tracking methods. Cloudscene data cited by Statista listed more than 11,700 operational data centers worldwide in May 2026. Counts may exclude some private enterprise, edge, government, or small facilities, so global totals should be treated as estimates rather than exact figures.

How many data centers are in the United States in 2026?

The United States has more data centers than any other country. Cloudscene data cited by Statista listed approximately 5,427 U.S. data centers in May 2026, representing about 46% of the worldwide facilities in that dataset. Other databases report lower totals because they use different definitions and inclusion criteria.

Which countries have the most data centers?

The United States leads the world by a substantial margin. Based on Cloudscene data reported in May 2026, the next-largest markets included Germany, the United Kingdom, China, and Canada. These countries benefit from strong digital economies, extensive fiber connectivity, established cloud markets, and access to large amounts of power.

How many hyperscale data centers are there worldwide?

There were approximately 1,360 large hyperscale data centers operating worldwide at the end of 2025, according to Synergy Research Group. Hyperscale facilities accounted for about 48% of worldwide data center capacity, and their share is expected to continue increasing as cloud and AI infrastructure expands.

How many hyperscale data centers are in the United States?

The United States had approximately 580 operational hyperscale data centers at the end of 2025, according to Synergy Research Group. Another 437 U.S. hyperscale facilities were included in the company’s known development pipeline at the time of its 2026 analysis.

How much electricity do data centers use worldwide?

Data centers consumed approximately 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity globally in 2024, equivalent to about 1.5% of worldwide electricity consumption. The International Energy Agency projects consumption could reach approximately 945 TWh by 2030, or just under 3% of global electricity demand. AI and accelerated computing are major drivers of this increase.

How much electricity do U.S. data centers use?

U.S. data center electricity demand is rising rapidly. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2026 update projects a reference-case consumption level of approximately 649 TWh in 2030. Depending on factors such as AI hardware deployment, utilization, and efficiency, consumption could range from approximately 521 TWh to 843 TWh, equivalent to about 9.5% to 15.3% of total U.S. electricity use.

Why is AI increasing data center electricity demand?

AI systems require large numbers of high-performance GPUs and other accelerators for model training and inference. These servers can consume substantially more electricity and generate more heat than conventional computing equipment. The IEA projects electricity consumption from accelerated servers to grow by approximately 30% per year through 2030 in its base case.

How much water do data centers use?

Water use varies significantly depending on cooling technology, climate, facility design, workload, and electricity source. U.S. data centers directly consumed approximately 66 billion liters, or 17.4 billion gallons, of water in 2023. Their indirect water footprint associated with electricity generation was substantially larger. Water availability is becoming an increasingly important consideration when new data center campuses are planned.

What are Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, and Tier IV data centers?

The Uptime Institute classifies data center infrastructure into four official Tiers:

• Tier I — Basic Capacity: Provides basic dedicated infrastructure for IT operations.
• Tier II — Redundant Capacity Components: Adds redundant power and cooling components.
• Tier III — Concurrently Maintainable: Allows planned maintenance of infrastructure components without interrupting IT operations.
• Tier IV — Fault Tolerant: Provides the highest Tier level, designed so an individual equipment failure or distribution-path interruption does not affect IT operations.

The Tier system evaluates infrastructure topology and resilience rather than simply assigning a guaranteed percentage of annual uptime.

What is a Tier 5 or Level 5 data center?

There is no official Tier V classification in the Uptime Institute system. Uptime Institute recognizes only Tier I through Tier IV. Some data center companies use proprietary terms such as “Tier 5,” but these should not be confused with an official Uptime Institute certification.

What is the largest data center in the world?

The answer depends on how “largest” is measured. Data centers can be ranked by floor area, campus acreage, power capacity, IT capacity, or number of buildings, and these rankings do not always identify the same facility. For example, Switch’s Citadel Campus in Nevada was designed for up to 7.2 million square feet of data center space and 650 MW of power, making it one of the world’s largest data center campuses.

For a statistics article, it is more accurate to specify the measurement being used rather than identify one facility as unquestionably the world’s largest.

How large is a typical data center?

There is no meaningful universal “average” size. An edge data center may occupy only a small building or modular facility, while a hyperscale campus can contain multiple large buildings and hundreds of megawatts of IT capacity. For this reason, modern data center scale is increasingly compared using MW of critical IT load rather than square footage alone.

How many people work in data centers?

Data centers employ workers across facility operations, electrical and mechanical engineering, networking, cybersecurity, construction, maintenance, and other technical roles. U.S. data center employment increased from approximately 306,000 workers in 2016 to around 501,000 in 2023, illustrating the industry’s expanding economic footprint.

What do H5 Data Centers do?

H5 Data Centers provides colocation and mission-critical data center infrastructure services for enterprises and other organizations. As of 2026, the company reports managing more than 4 million square feet of data center space across 25 U.S. markets.

Why are so many new data centers being built?

New data center development is being driven primarily by AI, cloud computing, digital services, streaming, enterprise cloud migration, and growing storage and processing requirements. Increasing demand for AI infrastructure is also leading developers to build larger campuses with substantially higher power densities than earlier generations of data centers.

What are the biggest challenges facing data centers in 2026?

The biggest constraints on data center expansion include access to electricity, grid-interconnection delays, transmission capacity, water availability, cooling requirements, land availability, equipment supply chains, permitting, and construction costs. Power availability has become especially important as AI-oriented campuses move from tens or hundreds of megawatts toward gigawatt-scale development.

Will data center demand continue growing through 2030?

Current forecasts strongly suggest continued growth. The IEA expects worldwide data center electricity use to reach around 945 TWh by 2030, more than twice the 2024 level. Synergy Research Group also expects hyperscale operators to control an increasing share of global data center capacity as major cloud and technology companies continue expanding their infrastructure.