Data centre take-up in Europe’s core markets hit a record high last year, according to JLL’s new EMEA Data Centre report.
The company found take-up across the FLAPD markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin hit 352MW – a 19% year-on-year increase.
In 2023, 391MW of new supply came online, with 161MW added in the last quarter alone – the biggest yearly increase seen with the core market size growing by 16%.
Frankfurt dominated the market last year, reporting 119MW of take-up (20% up year-on-year) and 134MW of new supply (51% up year-on-year).
Pre-leasing activity also remained high, with 511MW of pre-lets recorded in 2023 – a 6% year-on-year increase. Investment in the sector more than doubled in 2023, reaching $2.34bn in Europe up from $0.76bn in 2022.
Tom Glover, head of data centre transactions, EMEA, JLL, said: “In a world increasingly fuelled by the internet, data, and artificial intelligence, demand will continue to rise for the real estate to make it all happen. We saw record levels of take-up, demand and pre-leasing for data centres in 2023 and expect 2024 to be another staggering year for activity in the sector.”
JLL anticipates secondary and emerging markets will gain ground this year. Berlin, Madrid, and Warsaw are forecast to grow by 39%, 54% and 59% respectively and the southern Europe and Nordics markets are set to grow between 30-55% over the coming year.
Daniel Thorpe, data centre research lead, EMEA, at JLL, said: “While we saw additional supply come to market, it’s still struggling to keep pace with the staggering levels of demand for data centre capacity, creating an ongoing imbalance. We expect demand for space in 2024 will continue to be incredibly high, particularly in core markets, leading to low vacancy rates for new space and upward pressure on rents.
“We predict that data centre developments will expand to locations where there is available power and land, meaning secondary and emerging markets, particularly in Southern Europe and the Nordics, will be critical in countering supply challenges.”
