Top 10 data center markets in the world

Northern Virginia is the largest data center market in the world, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2022 Global Data Center Market Comparison report.

The study identifies and ranks the top data center markets globally and covers key emerging trends in the sector. For 2022, this report has been expanded to 55 global markets, including 1,333 data centers.

Northern Virginia will likely become the world’s first two-gigawatt market over the next two years, says Cushman & Wakefield.

“The changes that began throughout 2020 with companies and government agencies alike moving to the cloud or determining their hybrid IT strategy became permanent during 2021,” said Kevin Imboden, Cushman & Wakefield’s Director of Research for the Data Center Advisory Group. “Major cloud service providers continue to battle for market share in large and small markets alike, with an ever-growing number of markets becoming hubs.”

The study shows that construction totals continue to grow globally, with 4.1 gigawatts (GW) currently underway in the markets covered, up from 2.9 GW in the previous study and 1.6 GW in the year before that. The largest clients continue to require larger builds, with 100 megawatt campuses becoming increasingly common.

Cushman & Wakefield assessed data center markets across the globe within 13 different categories, including fiber connectivity, market size, cloud availability, and more to determine the top overall markets as well as the top performers in each of the 13 categories.

Top 10 Data Center Markets

* Denotes a tie

10 Data Center Markets to Watch

“Today, many of the hyperscalers that dominate cloud, network and internet services can enter a new or relatively immature market and simply begin a major build. This shift has led to increases in market size,” said Imboden.

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