Data centre leasing boom 2022

The data centre leasing market is continuing to grow following record-breaking years in 2020 and 2021. Demand for data centre services increased due to pandemic-related societal and business changes, including a switch to remote work and an increase in online gaming, social activities, and e-commerce.

To meet this demand, businesses across industries looked to leasing space to increase capacity for data centre services. The data centre leasing market responded: but as we move into the next phase, will the positive outlook continue? Experts say yes. The global data centre leasing market is strong, but is particularly favorable in areas of Europe and North America.

Europe

European data centre activity is generally centred around five major markets: Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin – the Tier I markets of Europe. These are characterized by high capacity, low vacancy, and ongoing construction activities. Currently over 800 MW of capacity is under construction in these five markets, with over half of that in the London metro area.

The European data centre colocation market as a whole was valued at $12.81 billion USD in 2020, and is projected to grow at an average CAGR of 13.1% from 2021 to 2028. The top industries leasing European data centre space will include IT & Telecom, Healthcare, and Media.

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/europe-data-center-colocation-market

North America

https://siteselection.com/issues/2021/nov/new-reports-reveal-new-location-trends.cfm

More data centre space was leased in the first half of 2021 than the second half of 2020 – although fewer new deals were signed during that time period. This indicates that existing customers increased the amount of space that they were leasing from current providers, driving down vacancy rates across the continent.

Data centre power usage in leased space rose 15% from Q1 to Q4 in 2020, with Q4 results showing a 19% increase over the same quarter in 2019. Growth was strong in the Northern Virginia data corridor, but also grew significantly in midwestern areas, specifically in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio.

And in 2020, for the first time, data centre inventory under construction exceeded data centre inventory: showing that investors are confident that demand for capacity in North America will continue to grow.

Source: https://nadatacenters.com/2021-real-estate-forecast/