Important Data Center Statistics to Know in 2023

Data centers play a crucial role in the future of the global economy.

In fact, as more and more users and businesses turn to the digital realm, the demand for efficient information processing continues to grow. Data centers act as communication network connectors, allowing end-users to quickly access information even when working remotely.

As remote work environments evolve and become mainstream, data centers are more important than ever.

However, data centers are much more complex than they may seem; they are at the core of the digital transformation movement.

Here are some surprising data center statistics that can help elevate your digital game.

Eye-Opening Data Center Statistics

Everything that happens on the internet occurs within data centers, making them an indispensable technology in modern society and the economy.

• Global IT data center spending is projected to reach $222 billion in 2023.
• In 2021, COVID-19 caused a 10% reduction in data center infrastructure spending.
• By 2027, the global data center market is expected to reach $410.4 billion.
• By 2023, the U.S. data center market is projected to be worth $99.97 billion.
• By 2025, data centers are expected to consume 20% of global power supply.
• There are 8,000 data centers globally.
• 33% of data centers are located in the U.S.
• The top five driving factors for data center demand are remote work, digitization, digital technologies, OTT services, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

If one word could summarize the above data, it would be growth. The growth of data centers shows no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, the demand for more digital data access, processing, and storage is increasing.

It is understandable that the combination of the remote work trend and a tech-savvy society signals the continuous expansion of the data center market.

Two other contributing factors are artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). As more and more devices are connected to the internet, the amount of data generated increases, necessitating more data centers to store this vast amount of information.

AI also relies on data for improvement, and as AI advances, infrastructure is needed to support its development.

However, growth is not without its challenges. One of the most significant challenges in the development of data centers is how the industry learns to manage its energy consumption.

Data Center Overview

Let’s first take a look at the growth trends of data centers globally.

1. Global IT data center spending is projected to reach $222 billion in 2023, up from $212 billion in 2022.

• Source: Statista In 2021, IT spending on data center systems reached $216 billion, a 21% growth from $179 billion in 2020. This spending is expected to continue to grow exponentially.

2. The average size of a global data center is 100,000 square feet.

• Source: Data Centers, Data Center Frontier The world's largest data center is China Telecom, covering 10.7 million square feet. China Mobile also operates a large data center, occupying 7 million square feet.

3. In 2021, COVID-19 caused a 10% decrease in global data center infrastructure spending.

• Source: Gartner The data center industry has recovered from the COVID-19-related downturn. With significant growth projections in the coming years, the trend is rising once again.

4. Data center growth forecasts estimate that 5 markets are constructing 4.1 GW.

• Source: Cushman & Wakefield There is no growth without construction. The data center industry has announced plans to build 4.1 GW to meet global demand. The need for basic supplies like electricity and computer chips is significant, making development projects challenging.

5. It is expected that by 2025, the industry will consume 20% of the global energy supply.

• Source: Danfoss Data storage, processing, and creation currently account for only 1% of global electricity consumption. However, the exponential growth of data centers will significantly increase energy demand and impact the carbon footprint of the entire industry.

6. 76% of corporate data centers are concerned about data security.

• Source: Software Testing Help The primary concern for businesses is data security. Data centers providing storage services are no exception. Data security risks such as loss, damage, and leakage are a significant concern. For data centers handling large amounts of information, security strategies can be time-consuming and costly.

7. It is estimated that 10% of global IT organizations will achieve serverless computing by 2023.

• Source: Eescorporation This is one of the most enlightening facts about data centers: one in ten organizations plans to implement serverless infrastructure by the end of 2022. The availability of data centers and the speed of cloud services make the transition to serverless infrastructure possible. Data centers are truly changing the business infrastructure.

Global Data Center Statistics

The following global statistics reveal growth trends related to geography and socio-ecological factors.

1. There are nearly 8,000 data centers worldwide.

• Source: USITC As of 2021, there were approximately 8,000 physical data centers globally. Development projects are being considered every day around the world. However, unless data centers find solutions to address challenges, environmental concerns and supply shortages may slow down future construction plans.

2. The top five countries with the most data centers are the U.S., Germany, the UK, China, and Canada.

• Source: Statista The U.S. has 2,701 data centers. Germany follows with 487, the UK with 456, China with 443, and Canada with 328.

Data Center Market Growth

1. By 2023, the global data center market revenue is expected to reach $342.1 billion, up from $321.37 billion in 2022.

• Source: Statista, Gray In 2021, the data center market was valued at $316.3 billion, a 6% increase from $298.3 billion in 2020. The most significant investments in the market are expected to come from hosting providers and large-scale data centers.

2. By 2030, the global data center hosting market is expected to reach $131.8 billion.

• Source: Custom Market Insights In 2022, the market was valued at $57.2 billion and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2% until 2030.

3. By 2030, the global hyperscale data center market will grow from $62 billion in 2021 to $568.6 billion.

• Source: Precedence Research From 2022 to 2030, the hyperscale data center market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 28.52%.

4. By 2027, the U.S. data center market value is expected to reach $117.5 billion, up from $99.97 billion in 2023.

• Source: Statista From 2023 to 2027, revenue is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.12%.

5. The top five driving factors for data center demand are remote work, digitization, digital technologies, OTT services, and IoT.

• Source: Data Center Services Market Report Current socio-economic trends are driving the continuous growth in data center demand. In fact, COVID-19 marked the start of the remote work culture and the digitalization race of business processes. These are not the only triggers, though. The development of highly specialized technology in small and medium-sized businesses, as well as in industrial sectors, also requires data center access.

Data Center Market Share

1. North America accounts for over 40% of the global data center market share.

• Source: P&S Intelligence The majority of data centers (33%) are located in the U.S., followed by 5.7% in the UK, 5.5% in Germany, 5.2% in China, 3.3% in Canada, and 3.4% in the Netherlands.

2. Equinix holds the largest share in the hosting data center market (13%).

• Source: Synergy Research Group Digital Realty and NTT are in second and third place with market shares of 11% and 6%, respectively.

Enterprise Data Center Statistics

These statistics highlight the transformation of processes and services offered by data centers at the enterprise level.

1. Cloud services are the most important trend for data center providers.

• Source: Networkworld Data center services include infrastructure, cloud and hosting, networking, consulting, and virtualization. The shift to cloud services has benefited data center giants such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

2. In 2020, enterprise data center spending reached $89 billion.

• Source: Statista Enterprise spending on cloud services grew exponentially, driven by demands for modern database solutions, storage, and networking. This figure reached $89 billion in 2020.

3. Enterprise data center trends indicate that by 2025, 75% of data creation and processing will exceed traditional data centers and cloud data centers.

• Source: Intelligent Data Centers Decentralization will help remote asset managers utilize power resources and space. The demand for decentralized infrastructure that processes data remotely using smart devices, sensors, and monitoring is increasing.

Conclusion

The demand for more data is growing exponentially, and this data is accessible anytime, from remote locations. The above data center statistics confirm this trend. Countries with the most center facilities include the U.S., China, and the UK. As organizations adopt cloud services, remote workers and mobile consumers will continue to require efficient, scalable, and high-speed computing.

With the industry’s growth, maintaining energy efficiency, sustainability, and security is essential. The role of data centers will only continue to evolve as digital transformation accelerates worldwide.