Singapore is APAC’s sixth most established data centre market

The city will join other 1GW markets like China, Japan, Australia and India.

Singapore ranked as the sixth most established data centre market in Asia Pacific and is poised to reach the 1-gigawatt operational capacity milestone this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. 

The Lion City trails behind Jakarta, Indonesia which placed fifth in the rankings, while staying ahead of Johor, Malaysia in seventh place. Tokyo ranked as the most established data centre market in the region while Mumbai took the second spot.

With development projects nearing completion, Cushman & Wakefield said Singapore is on track to have 1GW in operational data centre capacity this year and join its peers that have already achieved the milestone, including mainland China, Japan, Australia and India.

“While Singapore faced regulatory and land availability challenges respectively, it remains highly desirable due to location and infrastructure,” said Brenda Ong, executive director for logistics and industrial at the property advisory firm.

The city-state’s limited land resources, strict regulations and high costs, meanwhile, push some big data centre investors to put up their facilities in emerging markets instead, like Batama and Johor Bahru, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Fitch Solutions in an earlier note said that Singapore is unlikely to attract large data centre investments despite the government’s newly launched roadmap.