Asia-Pacific is on track to become the epicentre of the global data centre boom, with cross-border investment in the region reaching a record US$15.5 billion in 2024, or 70% of all global flows, according to Knight Frank’s latest Global Data Centres Report.

Driven by artificial intelligence ( AI ), cloud computing, and digital transformation, the global market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 18%, hitting US$4 trillion by 2030.

The analysis reveals that capital expenditure will exceed US$286 billion by 2027, reflecting the infrastructure race to support AI workloads and hyperscale cloud services. While global capacity is forecast to expand 177% by 2030, it is Asia-Pacific that stands out not just in scale but also in momentum.

Southeast Asia and India

The report maps out high-growth regional hubs such as Johor, Malaysia, adjacent to capacity-constrained Singapore, which is emerging as a hyperscale magnet, with 85% capacity growth forecast over two years and US$4.7 billion in committed investment.

Singapore, meanwhile, despite its land and power constraints, remains seriously competitive. Fractional rack deals have crossed US$1,000 per rack in some cases, as vacancy rates plunge below 1%.

Amazon Web Services’ ( AWS ) decision to lease capacity in Mumbai instead of building its own facility has also turned India into one of the region’s most competitive data centre leasing markets.

Meanwhile, in North Asia, Tokyo is riding a US$4.1 billion wave of data centre investment, targeting a 25% capacity surge.

Investor focus

Globally, transaction volumes for data centres surged 118% in 2024 after a 2023 slowdown linked to higher interest rates, the report says. The average deal size hit US$75.4 million, up 15% year-on-year and a robust 44% above pre-pandemic levels.

“The Asia-Pacific region is now indispensable to global digital infrastructure strategies,” says Fred Fitzalan-Howard, head of data centres, APAC, at Knight Frank.

“We expect APAC to add 8GW of capacity through 2026, with 25% dedicated to AI. While AI diffusion here trails the West due to regulatory hurdles, the growth runway is immense.”

As AI reshapes data centre designs, with ultra-high-density racks and liquid cooling becoming the norm, cities such as Melbourne are witnessing rack power levels leap from 30 kilowatts to over 80kW, signalling a potential technical arms race in facility design.

With real estate, power, and sustainability combining, the report concludes that data centres are fast becoming a mainstream asset class in Asia.

The region’s role is no longer a supportive one; it is now foundational. According to Knight Frank, investors, operators and governments alike are now working quickly to future-proof this critical layer of digital infrastructure.