Global spending on data centres could reach US$31.6 trillion by 2050 as demand for artificial intelligence continues to expand, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The spending could rise as high as US$50 trillion over the next 25 years if AI adoption accelerates beyond PwC’s central forecast, highlighting the scale of infrastructure investment needed to support the technology.
The US is expected to account for almost half of the projected spending at US$15.1 trillion, followed by Asia-Pacific at US$8.2 trillion, Europe at US$5.6 trillion, the Middle East at US$1.1 trillion and Africa at US$255 billion.
PwC said global data centre spending is expected to rise from about US$800 billion this year to US$1.1 trillion in 2030 and US$1.8 trillion by 2050.
Much of the investment will go towards the hardware inside data centres, including graphics processing units, servers, storage and networking equipment. Regular replacement and upgrades of these systems will account for a larger share of spending than land and construction.
“Railways. Electrification. The internet. Each required enormous amounts of capital and defined an era,” the researchers said in the report. “The AI infrastructure cycle underway dwarfs all three. This one resets every four to six years – and shows no signs of ending.”
China and India are expected to drive much of the additional demand, supported by their large populations, expanding digital economies and room for AI adoption across businesses and consumers.
However, electricity availability could determine where much of the investment ultimately lands.
PwC said affordable, reliable and increasingly low-carbon electricity at scale remains the hardest requirement for many markets, while data sovereignty rules and semiconductor supply chains will also influence investment flows.
Disruptions to semiconductor supply chains could reduce global data centre investment by nearly 20%, according to the report.
At the same time, the rapid expansion is facing resistance. At least 75 data centre projects worth around US$130 billion were blocked or delayed by local opposition during the first three months of this year, according to Data Center Watch, with concerns including environmental impact and resource consumption.
Bloomberg
