Will climate risk derail South-east Asia’s US$564 billion data centre boom?

SOUTH-EAST Asia is experiencing a digital infrastructure boom. Total regional data centre investments are projected to reach a staggering US$564 billion by 2028, reflecting an impressive 20 per cent year-on-year trajectory, according to a 2026 Moody’s report.

However, even as the region is the fastest-growing data centre market globally, it is among the world’s most vulnerable in terms of environmental exposure: More than one in 10 facilities are classified at high risk of physical climate damage.

In this rush for digital real estate exists a structural data gap. Because South-east Asia features low insurance penetration rates relative to markets with historically mandated insurance frameworks, the region lacks the same volume of long-term commercial claims data.