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Riyadh emerges as Middle East’s fastest-growing market for data centers

Mar 12, 2025, 8:34am EDT
gulfMiddle East
Cables run into the back of a server unit inside the data center of Equinix in Pantin, near Paris, in 2016.
The inside of a data center in Paris. Benoit Tessier/File Photo/Reuters.
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Riyadh has emerged as the fastest-growing market for data centers in the Middle East, catching up with Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the race to build up the power and capacity needed to fuel the AI boom.

A chart showing data centers’ compound annual growth with a forecast to 2027.

The Saudi capital plans to grow its capacity at almost double the rate of the UAE’s two biggest cities through 2027, real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle told Bloomberg. The UAE leads the region in computing capacity, followed by Saudi Arabia.

With the requisite money, space, and energy, the Gulf is investing heavily in AI infrastructure. Data center deals in Saudi include a $1.5 billion commitment by US-based AI firm Groq and Aramco Digital, as well as a $500 million investment from US-based Salesforce.

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