Dallas tops global data centre rankings as power bites

Dallas ranked as the world's top primary data centre market in Cushman & Wakefield's latest global comparison, highlighting a shift in where large-scale digital infrastructure is being built.

Atlanta, Virginia, Columbus and Johor followed in the primary market rankings, while Austin-San Antonio and West Texas led the secondary and tertiary lists. The report covered 107 markets, assessing them across 24 variables including commercial real estate fundamentals, power infrastructure, development activity, regulation and operational risk.

Global data centre construction reached nearly 31.7 gigawatts in 2025, more than double the 12.5 gigawatts recorded in the previous edition of the study. Demand linked to artificial intelligence, cloud computing and broader digital infrastructure investment continued to rise, even as developers and investors faced growing constraints around electricity supply, land, permitting and regulation.

John McWilliams, Head of Data Centre Insights at Cushman & Wakefield, said those limits were reshaping how operators choose sites.

"The global data center industry has entered a period of managed growth," McWilliams said.

"Demand fundamentals remain extraordinarily strong, but the industry is no longer operating in an environment of unconstrained expansion. Power delivery timelines, land availability, community sentiment and regulation are now playing a much larger role in determining where and how data centers get built."

APAC trends

In Asia Pacific, Johor and Sydney were the only regional markets to place in the global top 10 primary rankings, at fifth and 10th respectively. Hyderabad ranked ninth among secondary markets.

Johor stood out for rapid expansion, recording year-on-year growth of 124%, supported by strong land availability. Bangkok led Asia Pacific in capacity under construction, followed by Johor, Mumbai, Osaka and Shanghai.

The report also highlighted a cluster of markets in the region with strong power generation growth. Batam ranked second globally on that measure, Jakarta third, India fourth and Bangkok eighth. Singapore ranked first globally for grid stability, with a power loss rate of 0.2%, while Beijing remained the region's largest market and the only one in Asia Pacific with more than 2 gigawatts of operational capacity.

Across the region, operators added more than 1.5 gigawatts of new operational capacity in 2025. Even so, vacancy fell to 10.9% from 12.4%, indicating demand continued to absorb new supply.

Most new data centres in Asia Pacific are now fully leased before completion, with nearly all capacity under construction already committed. Development pipelines continued to expand by roughly 20% year on year, but available space remained under pressure.

"Asia Pacific is experiencing a significant uptick in preleasing, which is keeping available capacity tight even as pipelines expand. However, shorter power delivery timelines are enabling faster deployment of new capacity than in other regions and this, in turn, supports the rapid expansion of hyperscale and AI-driven infrastructure demand in the region," said Pritesh Swamy, Head of Research and Advisory, Data Centre Group, APAC.

Power pressure

Access to electricity has become one of the main factors shaping new data centre projects globally. Developers are increasingly seeking sites with existing power access, adding private generation to projects and moving into secondary and tertiary markets where grid constraints may be less severe.

Asia Pacific was the fastest region for delivering power to data centres, with an average connection timeline of 2.7 years. That compares with a global average of 4.4 years for new large-load requests, while timelines in the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa were both about five years.

The regional picture suggests speed to power is becoming as important as market size in site selection. That has lifted a number of markets outside traditional hubs, particularly in Texas and parts of South East Asia, as operators search for places where they can secure land and electricity more quickly.

Andrew Green, Head of Data Centre Group, Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield, said the region still has supportive long-term demand drivers, though some markets are beginning to face the same constraints seen elsewhere.

"APAC markets continue to benefit from strong long-term cloud adoption trends, expanding enterprise digitization and growing AI deployment requirements," Green said.

"At the same time, several markets are beginning to encounter the same power and infrastructure challenges that have already emerged in parts of North America and Europe."