Global spending on data centres could reach $31.6 trillion by 2050 as demand for AI drives an unprecedented wave of infrastructure investment, according to PwC.

The total could climb as high as $50tn over the next 25 years if AI adoption accelerates beyond PwC’s central forecast, underlining the scale of computing infrastructure expected to be required as the technology becomes more widely used by businesses, consumers and governments.

The US is expected to account for almost half of projected cumulative spending, at $15.1tn, according to PwC’s inaugural Global Data Center Outlook.

Asia-Pacific is forecast to account for $8.2tn, followed by Europe at $5.6tn, the Middle East at $1.1tn and Africa at $255bn.

Annual global data centre spending is expected to increase from around $800bn this year to $1.1tn in 2030 and $1.8tn by 2050.

Much of that investment is expected to go towards the technology housed inside data centres rather than the physical facilities themselves, including graphics processing units, servers, storage systems and networking equipment.

PwC said the need to routinely replace and upgrade computing hardware means these recurring costs will account for a significant proportion of investment over the coming decades.

“Railways. Electrification. The internet. Each required enormous amounts of capital and defined an era,” the researchers said in the report. “The AI infrastructure cycle underway dwarfs all three. This one resets every four to six years — and shows no signs of ending.”

China and India are expected to contribute a significant share of additional demand, supported by their large populations, expanding digital economies and the potential for further AI adoption across both business and consumer activity.

PwC commissioned Oxford Economics to model data centre capital expenditure across 46 countries and territories and five regions, covering the majority of global economic activity and digital infrastructure investment.

However, the report warned that strong demand alone will not determine where future data centre investment is concentrated.

Access to electricity is expected to be one of the most significant factors shaping development, with affordable, reliable and increasingly low-carbon power at scale remaining difficult for many markets to provide.

Data sovereignty requirements and the availability of semiconductors are also expected to influence where investment ultimately flows.

PwC warned that disruption to semiconductor supply chains could reduce global data centre investment by nearly 20%, while increasing demands for data sovereignty could change the geographical distribution of investment without necessarily reducing the overall total.

“The US$31.6 trillion question isn’t whether the capital exists. It does,” the researchers said. “Nor is the question whether the demand is real. It is. The question is which regions, operators, and institutions are positioned to capture it and which aren’t.”

The expected expansion is also facing growing resistance in some locations.

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At least 75 data centre projects worth a combined US$130bn were blocked or delayed by local opposition during the first three months of this year, according to research group Data Center Watch.

Concerns raised around developments have included their environmental impact and consumption of resources, alongside wider concerns around the potential effects of AI on employment and society.

The findings highlight the growing tension between rapidly increasing demand for AI computing capacity and the physical constraints associated with building the infrastructure required to support it.

While PwC expects investment to continue rising through the middle of the century, the availability of power, semiconductor supply chains and regional policy decisions are likely to play a significant role in determining which markets secure the largest share of that spending.