Five of the top ten fastest scaling global data centres markets are in EMEA

According to Savills Impacts global thought leadership programme, five of the top ten fastest scaling global data centres markets are in EMEA. Finland (3rd), Saudi Arabia (4th), Denmark (6th), France (9th) and Portugal (10th) have grown rapidly since 2024 by 57%, 57%, 38%, 28% and 23% respectively, based on analysis of data from DC Byte, but capacity remains at an overall small scale globally.

Savills says that the United States is unsurprisingly the dominant global market by data centre capacity, at around 50GW of live IT power – growing 19% since 2024 – followed by China. Japan, the UK, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands are also now large and mature markets, with meaningful absolute scale but more modest recent growth amidst rising grid access constraints.

The international real estate advisor believes that these established ecosystems, with their connectivity and customer depth, will ensure they remain crucial global markets, even as the build-out of new data centres becomes harder due to various cost, land, grid capacity and development constraints.

Rupert Duckworth, associate director, EMEA Data Centre Advisory, Savills says “For AI-driven data centre growth, the Nordics, led by Finland, Denmark and Norway, offer one of the clearest delivery propositions globally, combining low-cost, clean power, cooler operating conditions and fewer physical constraints. The region has increasingly become a focus for large-scale, AI-oriented development – with significant new campuses now progressing.”