Hong Kong is positioned for a major growth cycle as per the findings of a recent report by global real estate advisory and research firm JLL. This is mainly due to the global surge in demand for AI ready digital infrastructure, as well as Hong Kong’s extensive submarine cable network and relatively low exposure to natural hazards.
According to the report titled 2026 Global Data Center Outlook the city completed 1.8 million sq ft of data center gross floor area, supporting over 150 MW of IT load between 2022 and 2025, with a potential 4.8 million sq ft in added capacity scheduled for delivery between 2026 and 2029.
“Under the government’s vision to develop Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology center, strategic initiatives such as the Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster site and the San Tin Technopole reflect the authorities’ active alignment of land supply and infrastructure planning with the needs of the data, cloud, and AI sectors,” says Cathie Chung, Senior Research Director, JLL. “With a significant pipeline of new floor space, rapid enterprise digital transformation, and supportive government policy, Hong Kong’s data centre market is well placed to capitalize on the next wave of growth opportunities.”
Globally, JLL forecasts the total installed capacity to rise from 103 GW to nearly 200 GW by 2030, driven by artificial intelligence workloads. AI is projected to account for half of all capacity by the end of the decade, with inference leading from 2027 onwards.
The Americas are expected to remain the largest data centre region, representing 50 percent in global capacity with the US accounting for 90 percent of regional capacity and delivering the fastest growth through 2030. Asia-Pacific capacity is forecast to increase from 32 GW to 57 GW, while EMEA will add approximately 13 GW of new supply.
Asia-Pacific expansion is led by colocation, as on-premise capacity is projected to decline by 6 percent amid accelerating cloud adoption. EMEA growth is supported by strong hyperscaler demand, focused on core European hubs such as Frankfurt, London Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin (FLAP-D) while the Middle Eastern markets continue to pursue digital transformation strategies.