EMEA data centre market accelerates. Warsaw joins the ranks of established markets

14 April 2026

According to EMEA Data Centre MarketBeat H2 2025, the latest report from global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, the EMEA data centre market has entered a phase of accelerated but more selective growth. By the end of 2025, live data centre capacity had exceeded 11.4 GW, representing a 19% increase year-on-year. Capacity under construction reached 2.7 GW, with a further 12.1 GW in the planning stage, bringing the region’s total projected capacity to 26.2 GW.

The market’s continued growth is primarily driven by the increasing adoption of cloud computing, sovereign digital strategies and the global race to provide infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing. Cushman & Wakefield notes that the sector’s growth trajectory is increasingly determined by power availability, grid access, the carbon intensity of the energy mix, and regulatory certainty.

That said, the Powerhouse markets – Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, and Milan, which has joined this group after surpassing 1 GW of total live and pipeline capacity – remain the largest in the region. Together, these six hubs represent around 45% of EMEA’s operational capacity and over 40% of future supply. However, these markets face growing structural constraints such as land shortages, limited power availability, grid congestion and regulatory complexity. As a result, there is a notable shift of large projects, including hyperscale campuses, toward regional and emerging markets.

Warsaw stands out in particular, having been classified as a new established market. The city has therefore strengthened its role as the leading digital infrastructure hub in Central and Eastern Europe. At the end of 2025, live operational capacity in the Warsaw region reached 157 MW, reflecting year-on-year growth of around 10%, while at the national level Poland’s total live capacity exceeded 210 MW. At the same time, Warsaw’s total pipeline capacity expanded by 45% to nearly 160 MW, of which 11 MW is under construction and 148 MW is in the planning stage,”

says Kamil Żach, Head of Industrial Sector, Cushman & Wakefield.

With its strong economic fundamentals, large domestic market, rapidly digitalising enterprise base and deep talent pool, Warsaw attracts both colocation operators and global cloud providers. Warsaw hosts cloud regions operated by Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and OVHcloud, reinforcing its role as the main cloud gateway for Central and Eastern Europe. An additional advantage is the institutional stability resulting from Poland’s membership in the EU and NATO.

Despite very good prospects, the market is facing challenges.

Capacity under construction across Poland has declined, directly reflecting longer grid connection timelines, substation availability constraints and rising construction costs. Furthermore, Poland’s power mix remains partly coal-dependent, exposing operators to higher carbon costs and regulatory risks. Despite these challenges, Warsaw remains the most reliable large-scale data centre hub in Eastern Europe,”

adds Kamil Żach.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, it is the combination of domestic scale, a mature cloud ecosystem, institutional stability and the growing importance of the CEE region that gives Warsaw a particularly strong position in Europe's digital infrastructure landscape.

Magdalena Znyk-Ossowska

Senior Consultant at Linkleaders

+48 502 556 846

Karolina Samczyńska

Head of Marketing and Sales Enablement, Poland at Cushman & Wakefield