As AI workloads push rack densities beyond the limits of air cooling, the liquid cooling market is surging across every major region. Here’s where the numbers stand.
The global liquid cooling market is growing fast, but not evenly. Regions with mature data center industries, established sustainability mandates, and high AI adoption are pulling ahead, while emerging markets are starting from a lower base but growing at steeper rates. Though market estimates vary widely, the direction across every major region is clear: Liquid cooling is moving from option to necessity.
Europe: Regulation meets cold air
Let us start with Europe, a continent with diverse cultures and climates across different regions. While on the one hand, the Nordics are blessed with a naturally cold climate that enables data centers to rely on cold glacier water and ambient cooling, on the other, there are the warmer regions in Southern Europe like Italy and Spain, where the temperatures are much warmer.
Mordor Intelligence valued Europe’s data center cooling market at US$8.74 billion in 2025. It estimates it to grow from US$10.16 billion in 2026 to US$21.56 billion in 2031, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.23 percent. “Demand for AI-ready capacity, tougher energy-efficiency rules, and persistent supply constraints in the FLAP-D corridor have combined to accelerate investment in advanced thermal management,” it says, adding, “Natural free-cooling conditions across the Nordic region, together with mandatory waste-heat reuse for sites above 1 MW, are reshaping technology choices toward liquid systems and district-heating integration.”
This is also in line with its findings compared to the size of Europe’s AI data center market. According to Mordor Intelligence, the European artificial intelligence data center market was valued at US$17.39 billion in 2025, and estimated to grow from US$21.67 billion in 2026, to reach US$65.18 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 24.65 percent during the forecast period (2026-2031).
Meanwhile, Grand View Horizon delves specifically into Europe’s liquid cooling market and expects it to reach “a projected revenue of US$6,062.8 million by 2033”, growing at a CAGR of 19 percent from 2026 to 2033.
Africa: Small base, steep growth
The African continent is home to over 50 nations, and many of them are emerging as global technology hubs. There are several emerging digital infrastructure markets in different parts of the African continent, such as Morocco and Egypt in North Africa, Kenya in the East, Nigeria in the West, and the well established South African data center market that has been successful in drawing attention of, and investments from, top global hyperscalers.
Mordor Intelligence estimated Africa’s data center cooling market to be worth about US$0.13 billion in 2025, and further predicts it to grow at a CAGR of 31.56 percent between 2026 and 2031 to reach US$0.68 billion. “The increasing demand for cloud computing among SMEs, government regulations for local data security, and growing investment by domestic players are some of the major factors driving the demand for data centers in Africa,” it says, estimating the upcoming IT load capacity of the African data center construction market to reach 3,182 MW by 2030. It further says that the region’s construction of raised floor area is expected to increase by 11.4 million sq. ft by 2030.
“Average temperatures in Africa range from 15°C to 36°C in summer and -2°C to 26°C in winter. Africa’s heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture makes it highly vulnerable to climate variability and change,” it says. “The choice of cooling technology is typically based on the geographic location of the data center.”
Meanwhile, Research and Markets estimates the Africa Data Center Cooling Market size at US$240.70 million in 2024, and further expects it to reach US$505.20 million by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 15.40 percent during the forecast period (2024-2029).
South Asia: India leads the charge
As we head east toward South Asia, India is the next big digital infrastructure market, with official government estimates placing its data center capacity at around 1.5 GW in 2025. And while major Indian markets like Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad, may not be as hot as the Middle East, South Asia’s tropical climate poses cooling challenges, not to mention water shortages during summer months.
Moreover, India has aggressively courted global hyperscalers, and is offering sops to international and domestic players to build large AI factories, and one of its most promising upcoming data center hubs is the port city of Vishakhapatnam, which has multiple AI projects in the pipeline. India’s liquid cooling market is also poised to grow rapidly.
Estimates for India’s cooling market vary significantly depending on factors such as methodology. According to IMARC Group, India’s data center cooling market size reached US$605.5 million in 2024. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$2.1 billion by 2033, exhibiting a CAGR of 13.82 percent during 2025-2033.
Meanwhile, as per Grand View Horizon, the figures are more upbeat. It found that India’s data center cooling market generated a revenue of US$1.2 billion in 2025, and now expects it to reach US$12.4 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 26.3 percent from 2026 to 2035.
East Asia and Southeast Asia: The density challenge
In Japan, the data center cooling market was valued at US$2.8 billion in 2025, according to IMARC Group. Looking forward, IMARC expects the market to reach US$7.2 billion by 2034, at a CAGR of 11.02 percent during 2026-2034. “The market is being driven by several significant factors, including the increasing need for high-performing data centers, a heightened emphasis on energy efficiency and eco-friendliness, and the expanding adoption of cloud computing to offload routine operations and manage extensive data volumes,” says IMARC.
Meanwhile, according to Grand View Horizon, Japan’s data center cooling market generated a revenue of US$871.5 million in 2025. It further estimates that this market could reach a projected revenue of US$7.6 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 24.7 percent from 2026 to 2035.
Estimates for South Korea differ considerably. Mordor Intelligence estimated South Korea’s data center cooling market size to be at US$176.67 million in 2025, and expects it to reach US$454.12 million by 2031, at a CAGR of 17.04 percent during the forecast period (2025-2031).
According to IMARC Group, South Korea’s data center cooling market size reached US$329.71 million in 2025. The market is projected to reach US$1.05 billion by 2034, at a CAGR of 13.85 percent during 2026-2034. “Edge computing supports applications like 5G, which generate continuous data traffic and require stable performance. Edge data centers need compact, efficient cooling due to space limits and high heat loads, especially in urban areas. Besides this, government initiatives aimed at promoting digital infrastructure and smart cities are fueling the South Korea data center cooling market share,” finds IMARC.
Southeast Asia is characterized by tropical and equatorial climates, with persistent heat and humidity year-round. This region is a hub of digital infrastructure with a vibrant data center industry spread across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
When it comes to the overall APAC data center cooling market, Mordor Intelligence expects market size to increase from US$3.56 billion in 2025 to US$4.09 billion in 2026, and reach US$8.26 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 15.09 percent over 2026-2031. “Accelerating adoption of generative-AI servers, mandatory efficiency codes such as China’s PUE ≤ 1.3 rule and Singapore’s SS 715:2025 standard, and hyperscale build-outs by Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, and Tencent are expanding demand for high-performance thermal systems,” it says, adding, “Liquid architectures are gaining traction because air-based cooling reaches economic and technical limits above 30 kW per rack, yet air solutions still dominate legacy estates and sub-30 kW deployments.”
Singapore stands out in particular. Mordor Intelligence estimated Singapore’s data center cooling market size to be US$130.62 million in 2025, and further expects it to reach US$209.83 million by 2031, at a CAGR of 8.22 percent during the forecast period (2025-2031).
Conclusion
Across every region, liquid cooling is shifting from limited, niche use cases to the mainstream. Europe and East Asia are furthest along, driven by regulation and hyperscale density. Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia are earlier in the curve but growing at the steepest rates. The variation lies in pace and scale, but the destination is no longer in doubt.
*** This article originally appeared on Issue 12 of w.media’s Cloud & Datacenters magazine and may be read on pages 15-16 here.