As the global share of internet users continues to rise, demand for artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and real-time data services is expanding in parallel. Data centres and cloud infrastructure are rapidly becoming key indicators of national digital competitiveness.
NEW YORK, NY (MERXWIRE) – Today, whether ordering food, shopping online, or streaming entertainment, people connect to the digital world almost every few minutes through their smartphones. Yet few stop to consider how powerful the technological backbone must be to support billions of users simultaneously. According to the latest data from the World Bank, this surge in connectivity is driving a major reconfiguration of the global data centre landscape, pushing digital competition to an unprecedented level.
The World Bank’s indicator, Internet users (% of population), shows a sustained upward trend in global internet adoption from 1990 to 2023. Growth accelerated markedly after 2000, and in recent years, the proportion of internet users has surpassed half of the world’s population. The internet has thus evolved from a basic communication tool into a critical infrastructure underpinning education, finance, commercial activity, and public governance.
Today, the internet is no longer merely a means of communication; it has become an essential system supporting daily activities such as shopping, financial transactions, learning, and administrative services. This broad-based participation in the digital economy constitutes one of the most powerful engines driving modern economic growth.
As tens of billions of online interactions occur each day, the “data centres” and “computing power” that process this vast volume of information behind the scenes have become indispensable. Simply put, the greater the number of front-end users, the larger the capacity required of the back-end “digital brain.” According to industry estimates for fiscal year 2026, the United States ranks first globally with approximately 53.7 gigawatts (GW) of installed data centre capacity—far exceeding that of any other country. This dominance is largely attributable to the presence of the world’s leading cloud service providers and AI research hubs, which collectively deliver unparalleled computing capabilities.
China ranks second, with an estimated capacity of approximately 19.6 GW, and is actively expanding renewable energy deployment to support its large-scale data centre parks. In Europe and Asia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan demonstrate mature digital strength, with capacities ranging from approximately 2.7 to 2.3 GW. Notably, countries such as India, Australia, and Canada are also leveraging geographic advantages or cost competitiveness to emerge as regional digital hubs. Although these rankings may shift with changes in investment levels and energy policies, the overall trend is clear: nations that can deliver more stable and powerful computing capacity will gain a decisive advantage in future technological competition.
Industry analysts note that the “growth curve of the connected population” documented by the World Bank is, in effect, the fundamental driver behind the continuous expansion of data centres. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly ubiquitous, global demand for computing power will intensify, making electricity supply and infrastructure development among the most pressing—and consequential—policy challenges facing governments. How countries balance the pursuit of high-performance computing with energy transition goals and environmental sustainability will be a critical factor shaping the next phase of the digital economy.