APAC data centre pipeline hits all-time high of 26.5GW in H1

Over 7GW of new capacity was added to the pipeline in just six months.

Asia Pacific's data centre development pipeline reached a record 26.5 gigawatts (GW) in the first half of 2026, after the region added 7.1GW of new capacity in six months, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

The property consultancy said the surge was driven by accelerating investment from hyperscalers, cloud providers and artificial intelligence platforms as demand for digital infrastructure continues to grow.

Cushman & Wakefield's APAC Data Centre H1 2026 Update found that 4.8GW of capacity was under construction at the end of June, while a further 21.7GW was in the planning stage. Around 1.4GW of operational capacity was delivered during the first half, demonstrating the region's ability to bring new facilities online at scale.

Despite the additional supply, colocation vacancy fell to 10.3% from 10.9% in the second half of 2025, indicating continued absorption and resilient occupier demand across key markets.

Andrew Green, head of data centre group, Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield, said AI and cloud investment had entered a phase of rapid, power-constrained execution, with access to electricity increasingly determining where new facilities are developed.

While data centres have historically clustered around connectivity, Green said expansion is increasingly moving towards markets capable of providing power at scale, creating new growth corridors beyond traditional hubs.

Southeast Asia accounted for about half of APAC's under-construction capacity, with Malaysia leading at 1,039 megawatts (MW), followed by Thailand at 859MW. Cushman & Wakefield said strong occupier demand, supportive government policies and continued digital infrastructure investment are reinforcing the region's position as a major growth engine.

Johor and Bangkok are at the centre of this expansion. Johor's under-construction capacity nearly doubled to 602MW during H1 2026, while Bangkok's capacity surged 148% to 859MW, one of the fastest expansion rates recorded in the region.

Cushman & Wakefield also highlighted changes in development strategies as operators respond to increasingly demanding infrastructure requirements. Pritesh Swamy, head of research and consulting for the data centre group in Asia Pacific, said speed to market is becoming a key consideration, with modular construction and advanced cooling technologies helping operators accelerate deployment and maximise available infrastructure.

Resource efficiency and long-term sustainability are also gaining importance as higher-density computing environments increase demands on power and water, Swamy said.

Cushman & Wakefield's APAC Data Centre Maturity Index, which assesses 30 markets based on operational capacity, development pipelines, vacancy, operator presence and long-term growth prospects, further highlights the region's rapid evolution.

Johor retained its position as APAC's leading market by combined operational and future capacity, exceeding 4GW. The consultancy also revised the index's benchmarks upwards in H1 2026, resulting in several market reclassifications as operational capacity and development pipelines continue to expand.

Looking ahead, Australia, India, Japan and Malaysia are expected to exceed 2GW of operational data centre capacity by 2028.

Green said the next phase of growth would favour markets able to balance scale, power availability and long-term infrastructure readiness. Traditional hubs are expected to remain important, but Cushman & Wakefield said a broader group of markets is emerging as data centre investment destinations as APAC's digital infrastructure landscape becomes deeper and more mature.