China, US To Control 69% Of Global Data Center Capacity By 2030, Forecasts GlobalData

Data centers are rapidly emerging as a critical pillar of digital infrastructure, evolving from back-end IT facilities into platforms that support cloud computing, connectivity, and data-driven services. According to a recent report by GlobalData, an intelligence and productivity platform, global data center power consumption is projected to triple between 2024 and 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1%. The report attributes this growth to rising adoption of cloud and hybrid infrastructure, surging data traffic, and increasing demand for secure and resilient digital environments. These trends are accelerating investments in colocation and hyperscale facilities, while artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to further drive expansion through high-density graphics processing unit (GPU) workloads. GlobalData's report, “Powering Data Centers Market Report: Power Consumption, Capacity, PUE and Project Pipeline Analysis and Country Ranking Forecast to 2030,” reveals that the United States and China remained the world's largest data center markets in 2024, accounting for 38% and 24.2%, respectively, of global data center power consumption. The dominance of both countries is supported by extensive hyperscale and colocation capacity, as well as robust digital and AI ecosystems. However, this balance is expected to shift by 2030, with China projected to overtake the US. China's share of global data center power consumption is forecast to rise to around 30.1% and further increase to 33.6% by the end of the decade. Asia-Pacific Expected To Outpace Other Geographies Beyond China and the US, GlobalData expects installed data center capacity across the rest of the world to remain relatively stable at approximately 31% between 2024 and 2030. The Asia-Pacific ( APAC ) region, however, is expected to outpace all other geographies, driven by rapid digitalisation, increasing cloud adoption, and sustained infrastructure investment. The report highlights India, Russia, Japan , South Korea, and Australia as key growth markets, supported by sizeable project pipelines spanning the entire development cycle, from planning and permitting to construction and commissioning. Photograph: (Global Data) Rehaan Shiledar, Power Analyst at GlobalData, expects global installed data center capacity to nearly triple by 2030, representing a threefold expansion within just six years. Shiledar noted that China is expected to be the primary driver of this growth, increasing its share of global installed capacity from 27% in 2024 to 35% by 2030. While the US is projected to remain the second-largest market, its share is expected to decline from 42% in 2024 to 34% by 2030. Even then, China and the US together are expected to account for about 69% of global data center capacity, indicating that the market will remain heavily concentrated in these two countries. Shiledar said: “The global data center market is set to be shaped predominantly by hyperscalers, colocation and managed service providers, and enterprises, because each segment addresses a distinct and enduring set of requirements. Hyperscalers will remain the principal engine of growth as AI training, inference, and cloud-native workloads require vast increments of capacity delivered with industrial speed, extreme efficiency, and tight integration across compute, storage, and networking. “Colocation and service providers will expand in parallel by supplying ready-to-use power and space, dense interconnection ecosystems, and flexible commercial structures.” Big Three Firms Set To Dominate Both Hyperscale Deployment The hyperscale market is expected to be led by Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, often referred to as the “Big Three”, along with Meta. The US is expected to maintain its leadership position in both hyperscale and colocation deployment. According to the report, the country's development pipeline consists of approximately 78.2% hyperscale projects and 21.5% colocation facilities. Government policies are also playing an increasingly important role in shaping the global data center industry through measures focused on data localisation, sustainability, and digital infrastructure investment. Key initiatives include data sovereignty regulations, infrastructure incentives, and permitting reforms. The UK presents a contrasting profile, with its pipeline weighted more heavily toward colocation developments. Approximately 61.2% of projects fall within the colocation segment, compared with about 38.8% in hyperscale facilities. For example, the US issued an Executive Order in July 2025 aimed at accelerating federal permitting processes and facilitating financial support for large-scale data center developments. China introduced a national strategy in February 2022 to encourage the construction of data centers in its western regions, where land availability, power resources, and renewable energy potential are abundant. Meanwhile, India continues to offer tax incentives and policy support to attract investment and accelerate the expansion of data center infrastructure. Shiledar concluded: “Data centers are rapidly reshaping the power sector. Fueled by the acceleration of AI and cloud computing, global electricity demand from data centers has surged. With a single hyperscale facility capable of drawing as much power as a small city, this growth is forcing consequential shifts across generation capacity, transmission and distribution investment, and day-to-day grid operations.”