We live in an information-abundant digital world, where data is the new currency, and data centers are the vaults that protect and power it.

The amount of data created each year has skyrocketed from 2 zettabytes in 2010 to 44 zettabytes (44 trillion gigabytes) in 2020. This has surged demand for data storage and processing, leading to the construction of massive data centers around the world.

So, where are the biggest data centers?

In this graphic,Visual Capitalist’s Julie Peasley uses 2023 data from Cushman & Wakefield to shed light on the biggest data center markets.

The Biggest Data Center Markets

Today, it is estimated that there are over 8,000 data centers in the world.

Many of these centers end up clustered together due to beneficial infrastructure and provisions from local governments and utilities. They also need lots of power, often at least 100 MW for each center, making power consumption one of the best ways to measure total market size.

While a majority of these data center markets are in the United States, some of them are scattered across Asia and Europe.

Rank	Data Center Market	Country	Capacity (MW)
1	Northern Virginia	🇺🇸 United States	2,552
2	Beijing	🇨🇳 China	1,799
3	London	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1,053
4	Singapore	🇸🇬 Singapore	876
5	Tokyo	🇯🇵 Japan	865
6	Frankfurt	🇩🇪 Germany	864
7	Shanghai	🇨🇳 China	725
8	Sydney	🇦🇺 Australia	667
9	Dallas	🇺🇸 United States	654
10	Silicon Valley	🇺🇸 United States	615
11	Phoenix	🇺🇸 United States	615
12	Chicago	🇺🇸 United States	555
13	Amsterdam	🇳🇱 Netherlands	531
14	Hong Kong	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	417
15	New York City – Northern New Jersey	🇺🇸 United States	392
16	Paris	🇫🇷 France	391
17	Portland	🇺🇸 United States	382
18	Mumbai	🇮🇳 India	380
19	Atlanta	🇺🇸 United States	360
20	Seoul	🇰🇷 South Korea	330
21	Dublin	🇮🇪 Ireland	304
22	Toronto	🇨🇦 Canada	267
23	Osaka	🇯🇵 Japan	241
24	Los Angeles	🇺🇸 United States	206
25	Salt Lake City	🇺🇸 United States	203
26	Las Vegas	🇺🇸 United States	173
27	Johannesburg	🇿🇦 South Africa	161
28	Querétaro	🇲🇽 Mexico	150
29	Melbourne	🇦🇺 Australia	149
30	Jakarta	🇮🇩 Indonesia	144
31	Montreal	🇨🇦 Canada	127
32	São Paulo	🇧🇷 Brazil	122
33	Madrid	🇪🇸 Spain	120
34	Milan	🇮🇹 Italy	111
35	Zurich	🇨🇭 Switzerland	111
36	Delhi	🇮🇳 India	110
37	Seattle	🇺🇸 United States	105
38	Boston	🇺🇸 United States	95
39	Reykjavík	🇮🇸 Iceland	88
40	Kuala Lumpur	🇲🇾 Malaysia	87
41	Warsaw	🇵🇱 Poland	86
42	Denver	🇺🇸 United States	78
43	Stockholm	🇸🇪 Sweden	74
44	Munich	🇩🇪 Germany	67
45	Santiago	🇨🇱 Chile	61
46	Berlin	🇩🇪 Germany	60
47	Chennai	🇮🇳 India	57
48	Marseille	🇫🇷 France	50
49	Oslo	🇳🇴 Norway	48
50	Columbus	🇺🇸 United States	41

With nearly 300 data centers, including many AWS servers, the Northern Virginia data center market is the largest in the world. Data centers in the region are estimated to handle more than one-third of global online traffic.

In 2023, Northern Virginia data centers had a combined power consumption capacity of 2,552 MW. That’s four times the capacity of the next closest American markets, Dallas (654 MW) and Silicon Valley (615 MW).

The second-biggest market, Beijing, has a measured capacity of 1,799 MW. Though it is currently the only market with an operational capacity of over 1,000 MW in the Asia Pacific Region, Tokyo (865 MW) appears to be catching up fast.

Europe’s biggest data center clusters are in London (1,053 MW) and Frankfurt (864 MW), largely due to demand from large local enterprises and organizations. It’s no coincidence that they are major hubs for government and commerce—the world’s largest data center markets are near capital cities, as historically, governments (and their militaries) were the first to invest in internet infrastructure.

Future of Data

Data centers will continue growing in scale and expanding into new markets to meet the demands of digitalization.

Already the wider adoption of artificial intelligence has changed where internet data is flowing. And with increasing digital demands, the amount of energy needed to power these centers also increases.

That has increasingly put the spotlight not just on companies and data center markets, but on the energy they’re using. With massive power consumption requirements, efficiency and sustainability become increasingly important, and not every market is prioritizing efficient sources of electricity.