Singapore data centres stand out with up to 18.8% yield, Cushman says

This is well above the regional average of 7%-13%.

Singapore delivers the highest data centre yield on cost in Asia-Pacific (APAC), ranging from 16.6% to 18.8%, according to Cushman & Wakefield's Asia Pacific Data Centre Investment Landscape report.

The figure places Singapore well above the regional average, which the report puts between 7% and 13%, the report released in August said. Cushman & Wakefield describes Singapore as a statistical outlier in its dataset.

Singapore's population-per-megawatt ratio stands at 4,723 as of the first half of 2026, the lowest in APAC, reflecting the deepest digital infrastructure penetration in the region.

"Supply-constrained markets such as Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul continue to command premium rents, supported by limited power availability and strong hyperscale and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand," the report states. "These dynamics often support attractive development economics despite higher construction costs."

Singapore's total capital expenditure requirement through 2030 stands at $2.53b (US$1.99b), amongst the smallest in the 14-market study. Japan tops that measure at $87.8b (US$69.1b), followed by Malaysia and Australia.

The report attributes Singapore's yield performance to a restricted development pipeline combined with sustained occupier demand.

Rents in the market climb as available capacity stays scarce, a dynamic the report contrasts with lower-cost, higher-supply markets such as Vietnam and the Philippines, where population-per-megawatt ratios exceed one million.

Two debt deals closed in Singapore during the period covered by the report. AirTrunk raised $2.22b (US$1.75b) in August 2025 through a green loan backed by a syndicate of 23 lenders and arrangers.

Nxera raised $604.52m (US$476m) in February 2025 through a green loan from DBS, OCBC, Standard Chartered, HSBC, and UOB.

The wider region faces a steeper capital climb. Cushman & Wakefield projects data centre capital expenditure requirements of $355.6b (US$280b) through 2030 and annual colocation rental income of $83.8b (US$66b) by the same year.

Regional vacancy tightened from 11.0% to 10.3% over the past year, even as operators added more than 2,200MW of operational capacity.

"CapEx requirements across the data centre ecosystem are no longer an 'if' but a 'when,'" said Kevin Tham, Managing Director for Asia credit at Varde Partners, in the report. "As enterprise demand, data sovereignty, and AI adoption accelerate, private credit will play a critical role in filling funding gaps where traditional bank and bond financing cannot."

Excluding Japan, Chinese Mainland, and Hong Kong, all markets covered in the report offer unlevered yield on cost above 10%, Cushman & Wakefield found.

Singapore sits at the top of that range, ahead of Vietnam and Thailand, which follow with the next-highest yields in the region.

(US$1 = SG$1.27)

Follow the link s for more news on

Cushman & Wakefield

Asia Pacific

data centre

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia