Singapore emerges as world’s 2nd most expensive data centre market

Building a data centre in Singapore costs US$13.80 per watt.

Singapore emerged as the second most expensive market to build a data centre in the world in 2024, costing firms $18.09 (US$13.80) per watt (W).

Singapore rose from fifth place in 2023 to second place in Turner & Townsend’s data centre cost index 2024 amidst continued supply-demand imbalance.

In Asia, Tokyo topped the data index with $18.74/W (US$14.30/W), whilst Jakarta ranked 14th with $14.42/W (US$11/W), dropping from seventh place last year. 

“Demand for data centre construction is surging in Asia due to the rapid adoption of digital technologies, cloud computing, IoT and AI,” said Arunava Parial, director of data centre cost index lead in Asia. 

“The growth of generative AI, in particular, means more localised data centres with larger rack densities are required in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across Southeast and Southern Asia,” he added. 

Amongst markets in Asia, Seoul and Mumbai continue to attract attention as data centre construction hotspots, with other emerging markets, including Osaka, Hyderabad, Chennai, Johor, Delhi NCR, Manila, Batam, Pune, Taipei, Guangzhou and Bangkok, being explored as alternatives. 

“Challenges around power availability remain prevalent in top Asian markets, such as Tokyo and Singapore, but Mumbai and Jakarta still offer good grid connectivity and remain able to satisfy demand,” Arunava said.

(US$1 = $1.31)