Demand from hyperscalers and cloud service providers fueled record leasing volume in the first quarter of 2025 amid widespread adoption of artificial intelligence and persistent power constraints, according to CBRE’s Global Data Center Trends report.
Strong demand and limited availability in core markets led hyperscalers to turn to secondary markets, creating new hotspots like Richmond, Va.; Santiago, Chile; and Mumbai. The global data center vacancy rate declined by 2.1 percentage points from a year earlier to a record-low 6.6 percent in the first quarter.
“Data center demand is diversifying as AI advances at pace and as a result, operators with available capacity in key markets are commanding premium rental rates,” said Andrew Jay, head of European data center solutions at CBRE. “In Europe, we’ve experienced rapid growth and investor interest in secondary markets which offer near-term solutions to capital deployment strategies.”
CBRE’s Glob
