2025 Global Data Center Market Comparison

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GLOBAL DATA CENTER MARKET COMPARISON

Pipeline and Preleasing

Data center demand continued to grow rapidly worldwide, with the development pipeline highlighting unmet needs when considering capacity planned or underway alongside capacity that has been preleased. Globally, the amount of capacity under construction nearly reached 12.5GW in 2024 across the 97 markets tracked by Cushman & Wakefield Research. This figure surpasses the current amount of operational capacity in EMEA and is nearly equal to APAC’s total operational market size. Most of the current pipeline is concentrated in the Americas. Data center development costs, which were featured in standalone reports for the Americas and APAC, have not deterred construction activity either. The 12.5GW under construction in 2024 is slightly higher than the 12.0GW reported at the end of 2023. Approximately 80% of capacity under construction was in established data center markets , a trend mirrored in the 66.2GW global planned development

pipeline, despite growing interest in emerging markets over the past two years. Supply chain challenges were still top of mind for the industry in 2024 and are expected to persist. Materials like lumber, PVC, plumbing components, gypsum and concrete have remained relatively immune to supply chain woes and can be sourced rather quickly, while copper wire, steel and light fixtures typically face two- to three month wait times. The most critical components, like switchgear, chillers, generators and transformers, have lead times exceeding six months, with some taking more than a year to procure. Stockpiling of components, which became more common in 2024, is further exacerbating this issue, as construction speed became a significant competitive advantage for developers.

Top Markets

MID-WEIGHT

Virginia

Phoenix

Dallas

Atlanta

Columbus

Reno

Austin/San Antonio

Chicago

Tokyo

Salt Lake City

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD | DATA CENTER ADVISORY GROUP

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