Growth in APAC remains strong with Sydney achieving gigawatt market status

June 29, 2022

DC Byte, the leading data centre research and analytics platform, has today shared the latest insights from its Q1 2022 ‘Data Centre Report’, published in partnership with Knight Frank, the leading global property adviser.

For 2022, DC Byte and Knight Frank have adopted a fresh approach for the report, focussing on a larger number of markets, reflecting the dynamic nature of the industry. The new format is designed to provide a greater level of detail and insight on each of the markets included and the region in focus for each quarter.

The Q1 2022 report covers nine data centre markets in Asia Pacific (APAC), including both established hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo; and the hyper growth markets of Seoul, Mumbai, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, to provide a wide-ranging view of the region.

According to the report, the APAC market saw growth in supply of 488MW bringing the total in the region to in excess of 8.7GW. 203MW of capacity was absorbed in Q1 largely due to public cloud activity; a number significantly higher than the average 127MW per quarter, as previously observed in 2021.

Much of the additional capacity came from Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney; with the latter crossing the gigawatt threshold this quarter. In contrast, Singapore and Hong Kong have seen more muted levels of activity in Q1.

The latest report also looks at the impact that changes in data sovereignty laws are having on the distribution of demand for data centres across the world.

“It’s great to see that the main data centre markets in APAC are continuing to demonstrate resilience and adaptability,” said Ed Galvin, Founder and CEO at DC Byte. “The general trend in the region is extremely positive with demand drivers strengthening.”

Ben Stirk, co-head of Global Data Centres at Knight Frank, said “Despite significant headwinds – the legacy of Covid, geopolitical turmoil and rising inflation – the Asia Pacific region continues to register strong data centre growth. The fundamentals support this trajectory, with Asia the most populous continent and a region where digital transformation is accelerating at pace. There is tremendous hyperscale growth potential underpinned by domestic demand. This, combined with the continued reopening of economies and the loosening of restrictive regulation means further above-trend growth can be expected moving forward.”

To view the latest Data Centre Report please click here

“It’s great to see that the main data centre markets in APAC are continuing to demonstrate resilience and adaptability.”

Ed Galvin, Founder & CEO at DC Byte

Tokyo Tower, Japan | Photograph by Louie Martinez