Data Center Real Estate Market Report 2026

The data centre real estate market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $76.88 billion in 2025 to $87.17 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to increasing demand for cloud services, rising hyperscale data centre expansion, growing digital transformation, and increasing data generation, and rising investor interest.

The data centre real estate market size is expected to see rapid growth in the next few years. It will grow to $143.32 billion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to growing adoption of edge computing, rising demand for colocation services, increasing focus on data centre sustainability, expansion of data centre footprint, and growing interconnectivity between data centres. Major trends in the forecast period include advancement in ai-driven infrastructure, innovation in liquid cooling systems, development in sustainable energy r&d, innovation in modular data centre design, and advancement in ai-optimized site selection.

The rising adoption of internet of things (IoT) devices is expected to drive the growth of the data center real estate market. Internet of things (IoT) devices refer to a network of interconnected devices, such as smartphones, sensors, wearables, smart home devices, and security cameras, that communicate and exchange data over the internet without human involvement. The demand for internet of things (IoT) connected devices is increasing due to the need for real-time data, as they improve efficiency, enable remote monitoring, and support smarter decision-making across industries. Data center real estate supports internet of things (IoT) device adoption by providing the physical infrastructure required to store, process, and manage large volumes of IoT-generated data. It ensures low-latency connectivity, scalability, and reliable support for extensive IoT deployments. For instance, in September 2024, according to IoT Analytics, a Germany-based research firm specializing in IoT market insights, the number of connected IoT devices reached 16.6 billion in 2023, representing a 15% increase from 14.4 billion in 2022. Therefore, the rising adoption of internet of things (IoT) devices is contributing to the growth of the data center real estate market.

Major companies operating in the data center real estate market are focusing on developing advanced infrastructure, such as multi-campus interconnected hubs, to improve efficiency, enhance reliability, and reduce latency for enterprises. Multi-campus interconnected hubs refer to a network strategy in which multiple data centers across strategic locations are seamlessly connected to form a unified ecosystem, enabling high-speed data exchange and operational resilience. For instance, in September 2025, Equinix, a US-based digital infrastructure company, launched its first International Business Exchange (IBX) data center, CN1, in Chennai, India. The facility is a high-performance data center that is directly connected to the company’s existing multi-data center campus in Mumbai. This interconnection creates a robust, integrated hub that extends a highly interconnected ecosystem for cloud, carrier, content, and enterprise customers from Mumbai to the Tamil Nadu region. It follows a phased investment approach, with an initial $69 million phase delivering 800 cabinets, and is designed for future scalability to support up to 4,250 cabinets, enabling growth alongside India’s digitalization efforts while maintaining a strong focus on sustainability.

In July 2024, Keppel DC REIT, a Singapore-based data center real estate investment trust, acquired Tokyo Data Centre 1 for JPY 23.4 billion ($145 million). With this acquisition, Keppel DC REIT aims to expand its geographic footprint in Japan and strengthen its data center portfolio by adding a high-quality shell-and-core hyperscale facility with a long-term master lease, enhancing recurring revenue, diversifying tenant risk, and supporting long-term portfolio growth. Tokyo Data Centre 1 is a Japan-based purpose-built data center property that serves as a data center real estate asset leased to enterprise and hyperscale tenants.

Major companies operating in the data center real estate market are Equinix Inc., Iron Mountain Incorporated, Digital Realty Trust Inc., GDS Holdings Limited, Global Switch Limited, Sify Technologies Limited, NTT Global Data Centers, CtrlS Datacenters Ltd., Vantage Data Centers LLC, 11:11 Systems Inc., STACK Infrastructure Inc., EdgeConneX Inc., Flexential Corp., DataBank Holdings Ltd., STT GDC Pte. Ltd., Digital Edge DC Pte. Ltd., Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS), DATA4 Group S.A., Keppel Data Centres Holding Pte. Ltd., NorthC Group B.V., Kao Data Ltd.

North America was the largest region in the data center real estate market in 2025. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the data center real estate market report are Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the data center real estate market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

Note that the outlook for this market is being affected by rapid changes in trade relations and tariffs globally. The report will be updated prior to delivery to reflect the latest status, including revised forecasts and quantified impact analysis. The report’s Recommendations and Conclusions sections will be updated to give strategies for entities dealing with the fast-moving international environment.

Tariffs have impacted the data center real estate market by increasing costs of imported construction materials, electrical equipment, and cooling systems used in facility development. The impact is most pronounced in large hyperscale and colocation projects in regions reliant on cross-border supply chains, particularly Asia-Pacific and parts of Europe. Higher capital costs have pushed developers toward phased construction and localized sourcing strategies. In some cases, tariffs have encouraged domestic manufacturing and accelerated investments in locally sourced building materials.

Data center real estate refers to specialized properties developed to house computing infrastructure, including servers, storage systems, and networking equipment within highly secure and resilient environments. It focuses on facilities engineered with robust power, cooling, and connectivity systems to support uninterrupted digital operations. It includes the acquisition, development, and management of buildings optimized to meet large-scale data processing and storage requirements.

The main property types of data center real estate include colocation, hyperscale, wholesale, retail, and enterprise properties. Colocation properties are data centers in which multiple customers lease space, power, and cooling resources while sharing common infrastructure, enabling scalable and flexible IT operations. Ownership structures include owner-occupied and leased models. These properties serve organizations of different sizes, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises, and are used across various applications in information technology (IT) and telecom, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, government, energy, and others.

The data center real estate market includes revenues earned by entities through leasing services, real estate consulting, infrastructure planning, site assessment, construction management, energy management services, and security services. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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