Top 10 established data centre hubs in APAC revealed

Singapore is expected to follow Tokyo as the region’s 1GW market.

Singapore continues to be a leading data centre hub for its regional and global connectivity, despite the high property and construction costs when compared to neighbouring South-East Asian markets and other primary markets in Asia Pacific, according to Cushman and Wakefield’s latest report.

“It will soon follow Tokyo as Asia Pacific’s next 1GW city market and continues to boast the lowest colocation vacancy rate of 1% within the region, strongly indicating that demand outstrips supply.”

Source: Cushman & Wakefield 2024 Global Data Center Market Comparison

The report shows all three regions—the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific—are expected to see existing capacity more than double. Asia Pacific currently has 10.6 GW operational capacity, with a development pipeline of an additional 13.3 GW expected to be realized in the coming five to seven years. At a country level, Singapore is on track to join mainland China, Japan, Australia, and India as markets with over 1GW in operational capacity in 2024.

Brenda Ong, Executive Director, Logistics & Industrial and Singapore Lead – Asia Pacific Data Centre Advisory Team at Cushman & Wakefield said,

“We’ve seen land become constrained over the past few years in several of the major markets, including Singapore. The push for available land has led to several secondary markets rising into prominence over the past year. While Singapore faced regulatory and land availability challenges respectively, it remains highly desirable due to location and infrastructure.”

Mr. Wong Xian Yang, Head of Research Singapore & SEA at Cushman & Wakefield added, “With overwhelming demand meeting limited land and power availability in Singapore, coupled with exciting growth prospects in Southeast Asia, operators are exploring secondary markets like Batam & Johor Bahru”.

ESG at the Center of Data Center Strategies

In line with Singapore’s push towards more sustainable data centers operating practices, key operators, and other related companies focused on keeping ESG at the centers of their data centers strategies. For example, Singtel, began construction of its largest data center in Singapore, DC Tuas, which will be the highest power density and hyper-connected green data center in Singapore.

Similarly, OVHcloud has expanded its footprint in Singapore with its second data center and the most sustainable of all their data centers in Asia Pacific, boasting a PUE as low as 1.29 and a WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) of 0.30l/kW.

“Singapore is well-positioned to spearhead the development of sustainable data center solutions, leveraging the strong investor interest and government grants and schemes to drive innovation and leadership in this critical area." Wong added.