Global Data Center Trends 2023 (CBRE)

• A worldwide shortage of available power is inhibiting growth of the global data center market. Sourcing enough power is a top priority of data center operators across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Certain secondary markets with robust power supplies stand to attract more data center operators.

• New development is occurring across all four regions despite limited power availability. Northern Virginia remains the world's largest data center market with 2,132 megawatts (MW) of total inventory.

• Despite new development, vacancy rates are declining in all four regions due to strong demand. Singapore—the world’s most power-constrained data center market—has less than 4 MW of available capacity and a record-low vacancy rate of less than 2%.

• Large corporations are finding it increasingly difficult to find enough data center capacity. Low supply, construction delays and power challenges are impacting all markets. For example, Querétaro, Mexico, has only 1.2 MW available for lease.

• The worldwide shortage of available supply is leading to price increases for data center capacity. Singapore has the highest rental rates at $300 to $450 per month for a 250- to 500-kilowatt (kW) requirement, while Chicago has the lowest at $115 to $125.

• The rapid growth of artificial intelligence—along with other modern technologies, such as streaming, gaming and self-driving cars—is expected to drive continued strong data center demand. This will spur innovations in data center design and technology as operators aim to deliver the capacity that meets the increased power density requirements of high-performance computing.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/global-data-center-trends-2023

Download the Report