Data Center Vacancy, Absorption and Rent Statistics by Market

Data center vacancy and rent statistics are the clearest real-time signal of whether supply is keeping up with AI and cloud demand. This guide in the Data Center Economy hub compiles the latest CBRE, JLL and Cushman & Wakefield figures for vacancy, net absorption and asking rents across North America, Europe’s FLAP-D hubs, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. To understand why new supply is slow to arrive, pair it with our data center construction pipeline statistics; for how operators turn those rents into revenue, see data center business models.

What is the current data center vacancy rate?

North American data center vacancy is at record lows: CBRE measured 1.4% across primary markets in H1 2026, down from 1.6% a year earlier, while JLL reports roughly 1% vacancy for a third consecutive year. Europe and Asia-Pacific run higher, around 7%.

CBRE’s North America Data Center Trends H1 2026 report, published in August 2026, found primary-market supply reached a record 10,903 MW, up 33.7% year on year, yet vacancy still fell. Net absorption totalled 1,456 MW in the half, up 11.7%. JLL’s North America Data Center Report Midyear 2026 described 99% of existing capacity as occupied and said it expects vacancy to stay near zero through 2028.

Outside North America conditions are tight but less extreme. In its Global Data Center Trends 2026 report, CBRE put overall vacancy at 7.3% across Europe’s four main markets and about 7% in Asia-Pacific. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 Global Data Center Market Comparison, covering 2025 data, reported 4.2% in the Americas, 7.8% in EMEA and 10.9% in APAC, and its August 2026 Asia-Pacific update put APAC colocation vacancy at 10.3% in H1 2026.

Which data center markets have the lowest vacancy?

Northern Virginia is the tightest major market in the world, with CBRE recording 0.3% vacancy in Q1 2026 and 0.2% in H1 2026. Atlanta (1%), Dallas-Fort Worth (1.8%), Singapore (2%) and Chicago (2.2%) follow among the large hubs.

Atlanta’s move is especially notable: CBRE shows its vacancy falling from 3.6% to 1% in a year as hyperscale and AI tenants absorbed new supply. Northern Virginia’s vacancy fell from 0.8% to 0.3% over the same period despite the market’s enormous size — CBRE counts 4,496.5 MW of inventory there, while JLL’s broader definition put it at 5.6 GW in mid-2025.

At the other end of the spectrum, CBRE recorded double-digit vacancy in Hong Kong (18%, down from 28%), Bogotá (18.7%) and Querétaro (10.6%, up from 0.9% as a wave of new supply delivered). These higher figures typically reflect a burst of new completions rather than weak demand, and they can tighten quickly when a single hyperscale lease is signed.

How much do data center rents cost per kW?

In CBRE’s Q1 2026 survey of 250–500 kW requirements, monthly asking rents ranged from $190–235 per kW in Northern Virginia and $200–230 in Chicago to $235–265 in Frankfurt, $280 in Tokyo and an average of $403 in Singapore.

Data center rents are quoted per kilowatt of contracted IT power per month, because power — not floor space — is the scarce resource. Rates fall as deal size rises: wholesale leases of 10 MW or more price well below the 250–500 kW band, while small retail deployments price higher. Figures from Digital Realty’s Q2 2026 filings, cited by advisory firm Cor Advisors, show 0–1 MW base rents around $280–293 per kW/month and wholesale deals above 1 MW roughly $80–157.

Chicago overtook Northern Virginia as the most expensive US market in CBRE’s Q1 2026 data, after a 14.7% annual increase. In Europe, the four main markets ranged from $165 to $265, with Frankfurt the highest. Asia-Pacific is the priciest region overall, reflecting land scarcity, high construction costs and Singapore’s long-running constraints on new capacity.

Source: CBRE Global Data Center Trends 2026 (published June 2026, Q1 2026 data). Dashes indicate figures not separately reported.

How fast are data center rents rising?

Rents are rising steadily. JLL says North American data center rents have climbed nearly 70% since 2020, averaging about 9% a year, and expects similar growth through 2030. CBRE’s H1 2026 data shows the fastest gains in New York Tri-State, Atlanta and Chicago.

In CBRE’s H1 2026 North America report, pricing for 10 MW-plus deals rose 19% in the New York Tri-State area, 14.5% in Atlanta and 9.7% in Chicago during the half. Northern Virginia rose a more modest 1.5%, while Silicon Valley and Hillsboro, Oregon were flat. By deal size, primary-market pricing rose 8.3% for 3–10 MW requirements, 7.9% for 500 kW–3 MW, 6.7% for 10 MW-plus and 4.3% for 250–500 kW.

JLL’s 2026 Global Data Center Outlook projects global lease rates growing at about 5% a year to 2030, and about 7% annually in the Americas. It also notes that AI training facilities, which need roughly ten times the power density of traditional halls, command lease premiums of around 60%. Rising rents feed directly into the economics covered in our data center construction cost per MW analysis: as long as rents outpace cost inflation, development yields remain attractive.

How much data center capacity is being absorbed?

Absorption is at record highs. CBRE measured 2,236 MW of net absorption across the top four North American markets in Q1 2026, up 34%, including a record 1,148 MW in Northern Virginia. JLL reports 25 GW of North American demand in H1 2026, double a year earlier.

The CBRE and JLL figures measure different things. CBRE’s absorption counts capacity actually taken up in existing and newly delivered buildings, whereas JLL’s demand figure includes forward leasing of capacity that will not be delivered until 2027 or 2028. JLL says demand is now about five times its level of two years ago and that hyperscalers account for 59% of 2026 tenant demand.

Outside North America, CBRE recorded 572 MW of absorption across Europe’s four major markets in Q1 2026 — up 90% year on year, led by Frankfurt (218 MW) and London (208 MW) — and 609 MW across four Asia-Pacific markets. Latin America absorbed 271 MW, with Querétaro alone accounting for 213 MW. Europe’s Q2 2026 take-up was 260 MW, CBRE said, with secondary and tertiary markets accounting for 55%.

How tight is the FLAP-D market in Europe?

Europe’s FLAP-D hubs — Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin — remain tight but less so than the US. CBRE’s Q1 2026 data shows vacancy of 5% in Frankfurt, 6.7% in Paris, 8.6% in London and 9.4% in Amsterdam, with FLAP vacancy falling a further 0.3 points in Q2.

Growth is increasingly spilling beyond the traditional hubs. In Q2 2026, CBRE said FLAP-D markets delivered 252 MW of roughly 700 MW of new European supply, so secondary and tertiary markets accounted for most deliveries. CBRE expects Europe’s total data center market to grow about 20% in 2026, to roughly 13 GW, and hyperscale self-build capacity to rise 22% to about 4.3 GW.

Power is the main constraint. Cushman & Wakefield estimates average grid connection waits of 5.2 years in EMEA for large new loads, versus 2.7 years in Asia-Pacific. That has pushed developers toward Madrid, Milan, the Nordics and Iberian projects such as Start Campus’s planned 1.2 GW campus in Sines, Portugal. See our Europe data center investment map for the country-by-country view.

What are vacancy and rents like in Asia-Pacific?

Asia-Pacific has the highest rents but more available space than the US. CBRE puts regional vacancy around 7%, with Singapore at 2%, Sydney 4.5%, Tokyo 6% and Hong Kong 18%. Singapore’s average asking rent of $403 per kW/month is the highest of any major market CBRE tracks.

Cushman & Wakefield’s H1 2026 Asia-Pacific report counted a record 26.5 GW development pipeline, including 4.8 GW under construction and 21.7 GW planned, with 1.4 GW of new operational capacity delivered in the half. Johor in Malaysia — Singapore’s overflow market — now has about 1.1 GW operational and 602 MW under construction, while Bangkok’s under-construction capacity rose 148% to 859 MW. Sydney (917 MW operational) and Mumbai (890 MW) are also expanding quickly.

Rents across the region reflect very different cost structures. Sydney’s $188 per kW/month is below Northern Virginia, while Tokyo ($280) and Hong Kong ($295) sit well above. Our guide to Asia-Pacific data center investment covers each market, and India data center investment details Mumbai and Chennai.

What do these statistics mean for tenants and investors?

For tenants, record-low vacancy means planning capacity two to three years ahead, accepting secondary markets or paying higher rents. For investors, it supports rental growth and high preleasing, but concentration and construction-wave risk are rising.

CBRE reported that 80.4% of North American capacity under construction was already committed in H1 2026, up from 74.3% a year earlier, and that remaining future capacity amounted to less than 1,500 MW — about six months of demand at current absorption. JLL says most tenants signing today are contracting for 2028 deliveries. Enterprises that need a few hundred kilowatts may find they are competing for the same buildings as hyperscalers signing 100 MW-plus deals.

For investors, these dynamics explain the flood of capital into the sector, covered in our guides to how to invest in data centers and the largest colocation providers. The bull case rests on sustained AI demand; the bear case on the possibility that today’s massive pipeline arrives just as spending growth slows — a debate we cover in Is there an AI data center bubble?

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