To identify the best places in Europe where to develop, operate and ultimately invest in data centres, Savills conducted a benchmark based on various metrics gathered in six categories.

Infrastructure & technology

The infrastructure & technology category reflects the current FTTP and 5G coverage and the planned development of submarine cables entering a country. The results show that the Southern Europe markets score amongst the highest, with Paris, Marseille, Rome, and Milan ranking the highest. On the lower end of the ranking, we find Brussels and Budapest have the lowest scores.

Demand drivers

Demand reflects the forecasted growth in population, GVA, and bandwidth and indicates where to expect the most important data centre needs in the future. The ranking shows that the UK and German markets, especially and unsurprisingly, London and Frankfurt score the highest with a relatively high forecasted population growth combined with current high bandwidth usage plus forecasted bandwidth usage. Amongst the lower scores, we see markets such as Zurich, Bucharest and some cities in France mainly driven by current and forecasted low levels of bandwidth usage.

Existing & prospective supply

This category reflects existing data centres and the development of new data centre sites, production capacity, and floor space. The results highlight the cities in the FLAP-D markets as these are the most mature markets in Europe, hence a high scoring for the existing data centres. Besides these top markets, we see that Helsinki and Rome are coming up. At the bottom of the list, we find cities such as Budapest, Bucharest, Lyon and Bordeaux, where a limited number of new data centres are planned combined with a minimum of existing data centres.

Natural resources & energy

As the name suggests, this category reflects metrics related to powering data centres, such as the availability of renewable resources. Unsurprisingly, the ranking shows that the Nordic markets such as Oslo, Stockholm, and Helsinki are on top of the list. The less-performing markets are found in CEE, (i.e. Prague and Warsaw), and German cities, which currently rely more on energy from fossil fuels.

Costs

The cost category reflects metrics related to energy prices to keep the data centres operational and costs related to renting servers in data centres as costs associated with new data centre developments. The results show that the FLAP-D markets benefit from relatively low costs, mainly rental, as the markets are most mature and competitive, driving lower prices. However, they are challenged by higher construction and energy costs. Besides the FLAP-D markets, we find German and Nordic cities such as Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, and Stockholm at the top of the list.

HR

Finally, the human resources category reflects the available (IT) labour force that can support current and future data centres. Top of the list, we find more emerging IT markets such as Budapest, Prague and Bucharest with relatively high working-age populations in the coming years. Whilst German cities such as Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich are ranked lower given lower available labour forecasted.

METHODOLOGY

This research covers 34 European cities. The analysis draws on 18 different indicators gathered into six matrices: Infrastructure and Technology, Demand, Supply, Natural resources & energy, Costs and HR. The data is collected at the city and national levels. Where possible, these indicators use the latest annual data available and five-year forecasts to ensure the index incorporates a forward-looking view. The various indicators have been ranked and weighted across the 34 cities. The results of the index do not determine the exclusive attractiveness of a given city to prospective data centre market players, it purely provides a macro guide to incorporate as part of their specific strategy.

_{Read the articles within Spotlight: European Data Centres below.}