BUSINESSDevelopments · · 2 min read · Source: Bitkom
Bitkom study: German data centers hit a record, yet the US and China pull ahead
German digital association Bitkom published a study on data centers in Germany on November 3, 2026, prepared by the Borderstep Institute. It expects about €23.5 billion to flow into German data centers in 2026, up 57 percent on last year, while the gap to the US and China grows.
Key facts
- A Bitkom study released on November 3, 2026 expects about €23.5 billion in data center investment in Germany in 2026, up 57 percent on 2025.
- Germany has about 3,300 MW of capacity, while the US had roughly 47 gigawatts and China about 22 gigawatts in 2025.
- The study forecasts about 5,500 MW in Germany by 2030, roughly 8 percent below the government's 6,000 MW target.
The key numbers
Released a day after Germany's national Digital Summit, the study puts figures behind the debate over computing power for AI:
- Investment: €23.5 billion in 2026, up from €15 billion in 2025. Most of it, roughly €18 billion, goes into IT hardware.
- Capacity: about 3,300 megawatts (MW) of connected IT load. That makes Germany Europe's largest market, ahead of the UK (2.9 gigawatts) and France (2.0 gigawatts).
- AI share: AI and high-performance computing account for about 20 percent of capacity today (around 670 MW). The study projects 36 percent by 2030 and 55 percent by 2035.
The gap is widening
The US had roughly 47 gigawatts in 2025 and China about 22 gigawatts. By 2035, the study expects 160 gigawatts in the US and 90 gigawatts in China. All of Europe would reach about 37 gigawatts, with Germany at close to 10. Bitkom president Ralf Wintergerst sums it up: the AI race is also a race for computing power.
Government target narrowly missed
The German government wants to double capacity to about 6,000 MW by 2030. The study's trend forecast is around 5,500 MW, roughly 8 percent short. Hesse, home to the Frankfurt hub, leads with about 1,200 MW, followed by Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, while Brandenburg has the most under construction.
Power demand is rising too: data centers and smaller IT installations in Germany use about 23 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026, projected to reach 35 to 38 billion by 2030. Efficiency gains slow the growth but do not stop it.
What this means for you
- Most large AI models will keep running mainly on US infrastructure; Germany's record changes little in the short term.
- If you need AI services hosted in Germany or the EU, expect more options as the AI share of local capacity grows.
- Computing power and electricity stay scarce and expensive, which can feed into the price of AI services.
How to use this
Ask the vendors of your most important AI tools which region processes your data, and keep the answers in a short tool list. That way you can answer client or team questions on the spot.
Luigi's take
For your daily work, the number that matters isn't the record but the ratio: 3.3 gigawatts in Germany versus 47 in the US. Most AI tools you use will keep running on American infrastructure for years. That's no reason to panic, but it is a reason to choose tools deliberately rather than grabbing the first one you find.
My advice: if your company or your clients care about European hosting, ask every new tool vendor where data is processed and write the answer down. It takes five minutes and saves long discussions later.
Source
Bitkom: KI-Boom treibt Rechenzentren in Deutschland – dennoch bauen USA und China Vorsprung aus
More sources
- heise online (iX) – Bericht zur Studie mit Details zu Bundesländern und Stromverbrauch
This article was researched and written with AI assistance. Responsible: Luigi Lugmayr.
