Demand for AI and cloud computing led the global data center capacity under construction to reach 31.7GW in 2025, more than double the 2024 figure, according to the 2026 Global Data Center Market Comparison report by real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield.
Around 80 percent of this development activity is concentrated in the Americas, where some 25.3GW of data center capacity is under construction.
– Cushman and Wakefield
But the firm posits that the industry’s dynamics are better characterized as “managed growth,” where intense demand is matched by regulation, calls for financial and operational clarity from investors, and largely negative community sentiment.
The previous iteration of the report described the industry as experiencing a period of “accelerated growth.”
