Italy’s data center sector forecasts $41.5 billion in investment by 2036

Italy wants a bigger seat at Europe’s AI infrastructure table. Its data center industry now has a price tag for that ambition. Commercial data centers in the country are projected to draw €36.9 billion ($41.5 billion) in capital investment through 2036. That figure comes from a study by the Italian Datacenter Association published on October 8, 2026, and reported by Bloomberg. The engine behind the forecast is familiar: demand for artificial intelligence workloads and cloud computing services. A fivefold capacity jump, on paper IT capacity in Italy’s commercial data centers stood at 460 megawatts in 2025. By 2031, the association expects that figure to reach roughly 2.3 gigawatts — about five times the current footprint, packed into roughly six years. Milan and the surrounding Lombardy region remain the core of Italy’s data center market. Newer projects, however, are appearing in Piedmont, Puglia, and Sardinia, largely credited to government initiatives designed to speed up permitting. Government-linked program investments of €6.8 billion are tied to Lombardy and Sardinia, according to the research findings. The gap between plans and shovels The sector faces a striking mismatch bet...