TODAY, THERE ARE 11,800 data centres in the world.[1]
According to March 2024 statistics, the US is home to 5,381 data centres, followed by Germany (521), the UK (514), China (449), Canada (336), France (315) and Australia (307). Southeast Asian countries in the top 25 ranking include Singapore, ranked #19 with 99 data centres, and Indonesia, ranked #22 with 79 data centres.
On 24 December 2024, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) announced that Malaysia had strengthen edits position as Southeast Asia’s leading digital hub, attracting a total of RM141.72bil in digital investments during the first 10 months of the year, a threefold increase from the RM46.2bil achieved in 2023.[2] Malaysia once again ranked first in its SEA-5 Data Centre Opportunity Index, having recorded a significant annual take-up of 429 megawatts (MW) to outperform regional peers.
As of the end of 2024, Malaysia hosts 54 operational data centres (including two in Penang) offering a 504.8MW capacity, with Johor leading in IT capacity and Klang Valley remaining a core market. Emerging hubs included Sarawak, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah.
Recently, Malaysia launched the region’s first sovereign, full-stack AI infrastructure,[3] “Strategic AI Infrastructure: Trusted, Sovereign and Global”, empowering government, businesses and universities to leverage AI in improving services, boosting productivity and driving innovation.[4] Malaysia’s investment in data centres aligns with its digitalisation strategy and global trends in the use of AI, which requires the resource-intensive power of data centres to support its data processing.
