Asia Pacific Data Centre Investment Landscape

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ASIA PACIFIC DATA CENTRE INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE

GDP & Regional Demand

GDP Share in Asia Pacific

Data Centre Capacity

Operational Share (MW)

Pipeline Share (MW)

Total Share (MW)

Markets

2024

2030

CAGR

Data centres are a critical component of the ICT ecosystem. Numerous studies have established a strong correlation between ICT infrastructure and GDP growth. Investments in ICT directly contribute to GDP by enhancing productivity and operational efficiency. Conversely, economic expansion drives the demand for more robust ICT infrastructure to sustain and support continued growth. The GDP of the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at a CAGR of ~6%, rising from US$39 trillion in 2024 to US$54 trillion by 2030. This growth trajectory underscores the need for substantial ICT infrastructure enhancements across most Asia Pacific markets. This correlation between GDP and capacity is clearly seen on the Chinese mainland, which has a GDP of US$18 trillion and over 3.8 GW of operational capacity, and where the development pipeline has slowed in line with its slowing economy. Other markets with a GDP of greater than US$1 trillion— Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia—are also among the region’s major data centre hubs. These markets account for 39% of the region’s GDP and 43% of its operational data centre capacity; these markets also account for 59% of the total APAC development pipeline. Adding in the Chinese mainland, these US$1 trillion-plus markets account for 90% of the region’s GDP and 73% of its development pipeline. Driving demand in the other major data centre markets— Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong China— is regional demand. Malaysia is experiencing dual growth dynamics: while Kuala Lumpur serves domestic demand, Johor is rapidly emerging as a regional hub for cloud services and artificial intelligence. Notably, Malaysia is one of the few markets with a significant presence of both American and Chinese hyperscale operators. Singapore is also a key regional data centre hub, although regulatory constraints mean it has the region’s slowest development pipeline. Hong Kong China continues to grow steadily as a regional connectivity hub and also has both Chinese and American operators present.

Chinese mainland

51%

52%

4.0%

37% (3,844)

14% (1,940)

24% (5,784)

Markets with more than US$1 Tn GDP Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia

39%

38%

3.1%

43% (4,507)

59% (7,882)

52% (12,389)

Markets with less than US$1 Tn GDP Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand

7%

7%

3.1%

4% (434)

6% (739)

5% (1,173)

Markets predominantly serving regional demand Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong

3%

3%

2.5%

16% (1,732)

21% (2,825)

19% (4,558)

Source: Moody’s Analytics, Cushman & Wakefield APAC DCG

Key growth markets for data centre – economies greater than US$1 trillion or regional hubs • Asia Pacific’s GDP is forecast to increase by 23% between 2025 and 2030. The colocation MW capacity is estimated to increase by 127% to ~24GW during the same period.

• Comparatively, the U.S. is forecast to increase its GDP by ~US$8 trillion by 2030 whereas the MW is estimated to grow by 81% to >20GW. • The Chinese mainland’s economy has experienced a slowdown since 2021, which is reflected in relatively modest pipeline growth.

• At the end of Q1 2025, India emerged as the 4 th largest GDP globally and is further estimated to witness a growth of 45% in its GDP between 2025 and 2030. The MW capacity during the same period is expected to grow by 193%.

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