Global spending on AI infrastructure is set to reach $31.6 trillion by 2050, and the Middle East, led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, is on track to capture around $1.1 trillion of that total, according to a new forecast from PwC. The region has the fastest growth rate of any market studied, even though its share remains far smaller than the United States, Asia-Pacific or Europe.
For UAE and Gulf investors, the numbers matter because they point to a rapidly expanding data center economy on the region's doorstep, one that is already drawing major projects to Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.
How the global money is split
PwC's forecast puts the United States at the top of the table, with roughly $15.1 trillion, or 48 percent, of global AI infrastructure capital expenditure through 2050. Asia-Pacific is projected to account for $8.2 trillion, and Europe for $5.6 trillion. The Middle East's $1.1 trillion is smaller in absolute terms but stands out for its pace of growth.
Annual data center capital expenditure worldwide is expected to climb from about $800 billion in 2026 to $1.1 trillion by 2030, and then to $1.8 trillion by 2050, reflecting a sustained build-out of computing capacity over the coming decades.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia lead the regional push
PwC had previously projected that Middle East data center capacity could grow from about 1 gigawatt in 2025 to 3.3 gigawatts within five years, and the current forecast reinforces the UAE and Saudi Arabia as the two economies driving that expansion.
