State of Data Centers: Q4 2026
Where the world's data centers are, what they disclose, who runs them, what is being built next, and where communities push back.
Key findings
- 8,460 facilities in 158 countries; the top three countries hold 41 % of them, the United States alone 2,501 (30 %).
- Disclosure is rare: only 299 operating facilities publish their IT load (7.3 GW) and 64 their PUE (mean 1.302). Capacity rankings reflect transparency as much as size.
- Regulation: 330 measures compiled across 52 countries; EU-wide rules (energy-efficiency reporting, ecodesign) apply to every member state, while national rules are most numerous in United States, France, Germany. Compare countries →
- 1,060 of 6,687 data centers (16 %) sit where the water stress index reaches 60 or more: highest (among countries with ≥ 10 data centers) in Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Israel, South Africa.
- Tracked large projects announce up to 90.9 GW at full build-out: about 12× the IT load disclosed by today's operating facilities. Treat it as an upper bound: these are developers' multi-phase claims, and some projects stall.
- 80 documented local conflicts and agreements (60 contestations, 46 since 2025). Electricity, land use and water are the most cited issues.
- Social friction is highest (countries with ≥ 10 data centers) in Bangladesh, Chile, Ireland, Peru (index v0.3, validation AUC 0.745).
Facilities by region
Number of tracked facilities (data centers + network POPs), by region, 8,460 in total.
Countries with the most facilities
Top 15 countries by number of tracked facilities.
Disclosed IT load by country
Sum of IT load disclosed by a source (MW). Coverage is partial: undisclosed capacity is absent.
Largest operators
Operators by number of tracked facilities.
Announced pipeline by country
Announced capacity of tracked large projects (≥ 100 MW or ≥ USD 1 bn), as stated by developers.
What local conflicts are about
Issues cited across 80 documented events (an event can cite several).
Social friction index: highest countries
Median index over each country's data centers (countries with ≥ 10), 0–100.
Water stress index: highest countries
Median water stress index over each country's data centers (countries with ≥ 10), 0–100.
Europe: facilities by country
Top 12 European countries (EU, EEA, UK, Switzerland) by number of tracked facilities.
All figures are regenerated from the current release. Reuse freely with credit: “Source: Datacenter Atlas, data 26.08-c2, datacenter-atlas.com”. See licensing · methodology · release notes.