• Nearly 100 GW of new data centers will be added between 2026 and 2030, doubling global capacity. The global data center sector will likely expand at a 14% CAGR through 2030, which will require energy innovations to alleviate grid constraints. Hyperscalers will remain a key driver of sector growth, executing a dual strategy of leasing and self-building.
• By 2030, AI could represent half of all workloads with inference becoming the primary driver. AI only represented about a quarter of all data center workloads in 2025, with training driving most of the demand. However, a significant shift is anticipated in 2027, when inference workloads could overtake training as the dominant AI requirement.
• The sector is experiencing an infrastructure investment supercycle requiring up to $3 trillion by 2030. Roughly 100 GW of new capacity is anticipated to come online between 2026 and 2030, equating to $1.2 trillion in real estate asset value creation. Tenants will likely spend an additional $1 to $2 trillion to fit out their space with IT equipment.

The data center sector is projected to increase by 97 GW between 2025 and 2030, effectively doubling in size over a five-year period. By 2030, global data center capacity could reach 200 GW. This rapid growth will be driven largely by hyperscale cloud expansion and AI demand.

The Americas is the largest data center region, representing about 50% of global capacity. The Americas also has the fastest growth rate of the three global regions, with a projected 17% supply CAGR through to 2030, preserving its position as the dominant data center region. The U.S. drives most of the activity in the region, accounting for about 90% of capacity in the Americas.

APAC data center capacity will expand from 32 GW to 57 GW by 2030, achieving a 12% CAGR. Colocation leads growth at 19%, while on-prem capacity is projected to decline 6% as enterprises continue cloud migration.

EMEA’s 10% CAGR forecast is fueled by government support for AI infrastructure and strong demand for sovereign AI clouds to meet data privacy regulations. The region will add 13 GW of new supply, with growth concentrated in established European hubs and emerging Middle Eastern markets pursuing digital transformation strategies.

The data center sector currently sits at the beginning of one of the largest infrastructure investment supercycles seen in the modern era. The interconnected nature of data centers means the AI-fueled expansion is reshaping a number of sectors including power, technology and real estate.

The transition from AI training to inference will redistribute workloads from centralized clusters to distributed regional hubs, fundamentally altering capacity planning and geographic deployment strategies.

Energy infrastructure has emerged as the critical bottleneck constraining expansion. Grid limitations now threaten to curtail growth trajectories, making behind-the-meter generation and integrated battery storage solutions essential pathways for sustainable scaling.

Investors and developers must balance speed to market with capital efficiency while navigating supply chain constraints and evolving demand patterns. Industry leaders must transform these converging forces into competitive advantages. The winners of this generational investment supercycle will be those who can anticipate demand inflection points while maintaining flexibility to adapt as AI models and use cases evolve.