Saudi data centre market to ‘double’ in size by 2028

Saudi Arabia’s data centre market will more than double in size, from $1.02bn in 2022 to $2.17bn in 2028.

This is according to a note from ResearchAndMarkets.com’s latest summary on its latest report on the kingdom’s competition forecast and opportunities.

To get to this market size, the sector is forecast to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.5% from 2024-2028.

The researchers pin this strong growth on the country’s rapid 5G rollout and growing fibre connectivity footprint.

This connectivity infrastructure all feeds into the adoption of cloud technologies, big data, storage and the Internet of Things.

Fast-growing adoption of 5G technologies and, as a result, edge computing in Saudi Arabia is also contributing to the growing need for more data centre builds in the country.

“Edge computing is becoming more popular in the market as a result of the rising use of connected devices among consumers and organisations,” says ResearchAndMarkets.com.

“In many Tier II and Tier III cities as well as in rural areas, this has resulted in a significant demand for higher-bandwidth internet, necessitating the construction of data centres to process information on par with big cities’ data requirements,” the research company adds.

Over 50 Saudi Arabian cities have 5G coverage in the country, with players including the likes of Zain, Saudi Telecom Company, and MOBILY. Zain is the leader in this space with 5G coverage in 44 cities.

Google cloud launch

The data from this report has been published in a week when Google switched on its Saudi Arabia cloud region, making the kingdom part of its 39 regions around the world.

Research commissioned by Google has said the impact of the cloud economy will be $109bn in Saudi Arabia and that the sector has the potential to add 148,600 jobs by 2030.

“Our cloud will open the horizon for new digital transformation opportunities and it will position the kingdom to be the hub of the region,” said Bader Almadi, country general manager for Saudi Arabia’s Google Cloud, in a live streamed event from the kingdom.

READ MORE: Google switches on cloud region in Saudi Arabia