Saudi Arabia has ranked second globally, after the United States, among the most attractive markets for data centers - an achievement that reflects the Kingdom’s growing position in digital infrastructure and its rapid expansion in a market increasingly driven by artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
According to a Bloomberg analysis, Saudi Arabia secured second place globally in data center market attractiveness.
The analysis also indicated that power availability and land enablement together account for 58% of market attractiveness for data center projects. At the same time, 22.8 gigawatts of new capacity are currently under development worldwide and are expected to come online within the next three years, increasing the value of markets capable of absorbing this growth at scale and with speed.
This progress builds on the rapid expansion of the data center sector in the Kingdom, where operational capacity increased from 68 megawatts in 2021 to 440 megawatts in 2025—representing nearly sixfold growth over four years.
This reflects the accelerated development of digital infrastructure and the growing attractiveness of the Saudi market in this critical sector.
The sector continued its growth in the first quarter of 2026, with capacity rising to 467 megawatts—an increase of more than 6% since the beginning of the year—highlighting the sustained expansion of a market that has become a key driver of digital infrastructure and the data-driven economy powered by cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Today, Saudi Arabia hosts more than 60 data centers across multiple regions, reflecting the expansion of the market, the strengthening of its operational base, and its ability to meet the growing demand for digital services, cloud computing, and AI applications.
This growth is further supported by the Kingdom’s geographic depth, which provides developers and operators with greater flexibility in site distribution and phased expansion, in addition to its strategic location linking Asia, Europe, and Africa—enabling access to broad markets from a single hub.
Commenting on this progress, head of the Artificial Intelligence Enablement Office at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Bassam Al-Bassam stated: “This reflects the Kingdom’s growing position in the data center sector and confirms that the progress achieved in digital infrastructure, power availability, development speed, and operational readiness has positioned Saudi Arabia among the most capable markets in attracting high-quality investments in this sector.”