As EMEA data centre demand keeps climbing, power, land and delivery timelines dictate which markets capture it.
Capacity in EMEA's traditional data centre hubs is increasingly constrained, even as demand for compute keeps climbing. Established markets remain critical and continue to attract development (underpinned by deep cloud ecosystems, connectivity and enterprise demand), but investment is accelerating fastest in selected Southern European and Scandinavian markets, where power can be delivered more quickly and large sites are available at scale.
While demand has typically been a principal constraint to market growth, capacity is now being deployed wherever power, land and viable delivery timelines permit.
Regional highlights
- Operational capacity: EMEA operational data centre capacity exceeded 12.1GW in H1 2026, up more than 36% in two years.
- Development pipeline: Total committed pipeline reached 18.3GW (3.8GW under construction, 14.5GW planned)—up more than 34% since H1 2025 and enough, if fully delivered, to more than double the region's existing operational base.
- A seventh powerhouse: Helsinki has joined London, Frankfurt, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam and Milan as an EMEA Powerhouse market, with total capacity now exceeding 1.1GW.
- FLAPD's shrinking share: The core five markets hold 43% of EMEA's operational capacity, but just 32% of future pipeline (down from 39% six months ago) as growth spreads to a wider set of markets.
- Regional diversification: Madrid, Oslo, Abu Dhabi, Warsaw, Vienna, Barcelona and Dubai are all seeing continued expansion, benefiting from faster power delivery, available land and strong connectivity.
The Cushman & Wakefield EMEA Data Centre Maturity Index tracks 29 data centre markets to compare their current maturity status and growth potential over the next decade.
