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Asia Pacific’s data centre sector recorded a historic USD 11.6 billion in investments during 2025, according to CBRE’s latest regional outlook report, with access to power infrastructure increasingly shaping where new developments are being planned. The report identified India, Malaysia and Australia among the key beneficiaries of this shift as artificial intelligence-led demand pushes operators and investors beyond traditional markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong SAR. Entity-level transactions across operating platforms and companies reached USD 8.3 billion during the year, while new AI-focused cloud providers, referred to as “neoclouds”, emerged as an additional source of demand. CBRE noted that developers and investors are increasingly prioritising power-secure locations, built-to-suit campuses and infrastructure partnerships to support high-density AI workloads across the region.
Asia Pacific’s data centre investment market reached a record USD 11.6 billion in 2025, with growing artificial intelligence adoption and tightening power availability driving developers and investors towards emerging markets such as India, Malaysia and Australia, according to CBRE’s 2026 Asia Pacific Data Centre Trends & Outlook Report released on 21 May. Advertisement
The report stated that the region’s data centre landscape is undergoing a structural shift as operators seek locations capable of supporting large-scale, power-intensive AI infrastructure. Traditional hubs including Singapore and Hong Kong SAR continued to witness growth, though at a comparatively moderate rate of around 6–8%, while expansion accelerated in markets with greater power availability and land access.
CBRE noted that investment activity across the sector is becoming increasingly diversified as institutional investors seek more targeted exposure to digital infrastructure assets. Entity-level transactions involving platforms and operating companies reached USD 8.3 billion in 2025, reflecting growing investor appetite for scalable operating models and enhanced liquidity.
At the same time, operators across the region are adopting capital recycling and fund management strategies to support expansion, strengthen balance sheets and access broader investment pools. These models are also enabling developers to scale projects more efficiently amid rising infrastructure requirements linked to AI deployment.
The report highlighted the emergence of “neoclouds” as a new source of demand within the sector. These AI-focused cloud providers specialise in high-performance computing infrastructure designed for artificial intelligence workloads and are expanding through both global and regional operators across Asia Pacific.
CBRE stated that adoption of neocloud tenants remains selective, as some landlords continue to assess tenant credit quality and operational stability before committing large-scale capacity. As a result, the report positioned neoclouds as an emerging demand segment operating alongside established hyperscale cloud providers.
Matt Madden, Senior Managing Director, Data Centre Solutions, Asia Pacific at CBRE, said artificial intelligence was reshaping how infrastructure was selected and deployed across the region. He indicated that for neocloud operators, access to reliable power infrastructure was becoming more important than traditional locational advantages, directing investment and development activity towards markets capable of supporting high-density campuses at scale, including India and Malaysia.
Among individual markets, Johor in Malaysia recorded the strongest regional growth in live data centre capacity during 2025, registering a 53% year-on-year increase. Melbourne followed with 37% growth, highlighting increasing momentum outside mature gateway markets.
The report also pointed to regulatory and infrastructure constraints in several established locations. Singapore has continued to manage power limitations through government allocation frameworks, while South Korea has restricted new projects within Greater Seoul to 10MW.
CBRE added that higher construction costs and extended project delivery timelines are further increasing the importance of sites with immediate power access and faster execution capability. In response, developers and investors are increasingly pursuing built-to-suit developments, infrastructure partnerships and local alliances to secure power connectivity and navigate regulatory processes more effectively.
Ada Choi, Head of Research, Asia Pacific at CBRE, stated that the region’s data centre market was witnessing a broader geographic realignment as AI adoption accelerated, with power-secure and AI-ready markets expected to attract a larger share of future investment activity across Asia Pacific.
5th Jun, 2025
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