BSRIA: ‘Data centres dominate global cabling’
Author: Joe Peck
BSRIA, a UK-based research, testing, and consultancy organisation, has released its latest analysis of the global structured cabling sector. The Structured Cabling Worldwide 2026 report, covering 34 countries, points to a market driven by data centre investment.
The global structured cabling market grew 21% in 2025 to $9.08 billion (£6.7 billion), adding $1.3 billion (£965 million) in a single year and building on almost 11% growth in 2024. The data centre segment was the main driver of that growth, increasing by 54% in 2025, as AI infrastructure investment continues to push cabling demand higher.
Data centres now account for more than 41% of all cabling installed, almost double the 21% share they held in the 2015 to 2018 period. Markets including Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, and India recorded strong growth.
Data centre growth across all segments
The US delivered the strongest growth of any market, with sales up 44% year on year and the country accounting for almost nine in 10 dollars (89%) of the total global value increase in 2025. The US also holds more than two thirds (69%) of the global data centre cabling market, 14 times the size of second-placed China. Germany, the UK, Australia, and India follow as the next biggest data centre markets.
While hyperscalers were the largest contributor to US growth, all data centre segments increased. Some of the US figures reflect products shipped from American hyperscalers into Canada, Latin America, and Europe, so the headline numbers slightly overstate domestic installation. Even allowing for that, the gap between the US and the rest of the world has widened. China is the exception, taking a separate path for reasons explored below. Suppliers dealing directly with hyperscalers have been amongst the main beneficiaries of the increase in US data centre revenues.
China takes a different route in AI data centres
China’s AI data centres are following a different path. Direct Attach Cables (DACs) account for more than the majority (90–95%) of connections there, chosen for their lower cost and shorter lead times. Structured cabling plays a smaller role in those builds than it does in the US and other regions, with commercial implications for suppliers planning Asia Pacific strategies.
The report as a whole covers the global structured cabling market across copper and fibre cable and connectivity, as well as associated components, with sales data, supplier shares, and forecasts for both data centre and LAN segments.
For more from BSRIA, click here.
