In 2024, 13 new cloud regions were launched globally. This marks a significant slowdown in the deployment of new cloud regions.
There hasn't been a year with fewer than 20 new regions since 2017. As you may recall, 26 regions launched in 2023, 24 in 2022, 27 in 2021, and 25 in 2020. At the peak in 2019, 41 regions came online.
2024 New Cloud Regions by Provider
Microsoft opened the most regions (4), followed by Google, Oracle, Huawei, and OVH, which each opened two new regions. AWS opened a single region in 2024.
Alibaba, IBM, and Tencent did not launch any cloud regions in 2024.
2024 New Cloud Regions by Location
Regionally, Asia led last year with three new regions. Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the U.S. & Canada each launched two, while Oceania and the Middle East launched a single region each.
Asia added the most new cloud regions in 2024—a mere three. This is the same number as in 2023, down from eight in 2022. Oceania launched one new region, down from two the previous year.
Latin America had no cloud regions outside of Brazil until recently. In the past two years, the region has grown from three to seven.
Africa remains the most underserved region in the world. Until last year, only South Africa contained cloud regions. Two regions opened in 2024: one in South Africa and one in Egypt.
In 2023, Europe added the most new cloud regions (9). Most of these regions opened in Western Europe, meant to address continuing demand and offer a new breed of data sovereign regions. In 2024, however, Europe only introduced two new regions.
Generally an underserved market for cloud services, the Middle East has been active in cloud infrastructure development the past couple of years—but not in 2024.
Generally an underserved market for cloud services, the Middle East has been active in cloud infrastructure development the past couple of years—but not in 2024. After launching six new regions in 2023, only a single region went live in 2024: Oracle's single-zoned region in Riyadh.
Finally, like Europe, the U.S. & Canada only saw two regions launched in 2024—by Microsoft in the U.S. and OVH in Canada. The U.S. & Canada is a very mature market in terms of the number of cloud regions.
This analysis was pulled from our newly updated Cloud and WAN Research Service. Download the free executive summary to keep reading.
Patrick Christian
Patrick Christian is a Senior Research Manager with TeleGeography. He heads the Cloud and WAN Research Service. He also focuses on African and European markets specializing in international bandwidth markets and internet infrastructure, WAN services, terrestrial and submarine cable systems, and international voice traffic analysis.
