Data & Research March 24, 2026 • Updated: 9 November 2026

Cloud computing
statistics 2026

50+ verified data points on cloud computing worldwide. From adoption rates and cloud spend to market share breakdowns for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Compiled from Eurostat, Gartner, Synergy Research, Flexera, company filings and more, every figure linked to its source, and interpreted by our B2B marketing agency for cloud brands.

52.7%

of EU businesses (10+ employees) buy cloud services

Source: Eurostat, 2025

$167.7B

spent on cloud infrastructure services in Q3 2026 alone

Source: Synergy Research Group, 2026

+55%

year-over-year growth of cloud infrastructure services

Source: Synergy Research Group, 2026

Statistics overview

Cloud computing is the backbone of the modern digital economy. Hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are investing tens of billions per quarter in infrastructure, AI is reshaping demand, and in Europe a majority of businesses now buy cloud services. The cloud landscape is evolving faster than ever. Cloud vendors looking to capture demand frequently lean on a dedicated LinkedIn Ads agency to reach IT buyers.

This page compiles 50+ verified statistics on cloud computing, sourced from Eurostat, Gartner, Synergy Research, Flexera, CNCF, Thales, IBM, Uptime Institute and the quarterly results of Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet. Every figure links to the source we checked (last checked 9 November 2026). Whether you're building a business case for cloud migration, comparing providers, or analyzing market trends: this data hub gives you the numbers you need, and a lead generation agency to turn research into pipeline.

Section 1

Cloud adoption rates

84.7%

of large EU enterprises (250+ employees) buy cloud services

Source: Eurostat, 2025

66.8%

of medium-sized EU enterprises (50 to 249 employees)

Source: Eurostat, 2025

49.3%

of small EU enterprises (10 to 49 employees)

Source: Eurostat, 2025

79.2%

in Finland, the highest share in the EU

Source: Eurostat, 2025

Cloud adoption by industry (EU)

Information & communication 82.9%
Professional, scientific & technical 67.4%
Real estate 61.6%
Manufacturing 54.0%
Wholesale & retail trade 51.3%
Construction 47.5%
Transportation & storage 46.6%
Accommodation & food services 39.5%

Source: Eurostat, 2025 (share of enterprises with 10+ employees buying cloud services; the financial sector is not covered)

  • Finland (79.2%), Italy (75.6%), Malta (75.1%), Ireland (73.0%) and Sweden (72.0%) lead the EU; the Netherlands ranks 7th at 68.5%. The lowest shares are in Bulgaria (17.8%), Greece (24.3%) and Romania (24.9%) (Eurostat, 2025)
  • Steady growth: the EU share rose from 41.0% in 2021 and 45.3% in 2023 to 52.7% in 2025, up 7.4 percentage points in two years (Eurostat, 2025)
  • E-mail is the most bought cloud service (85.2% of cloud users), followed by office software (71.7%), file storage (71.5%), security software (65.5%), finance or accounting software (58.2%) and databases (45.5%) (Eurostat, 2025)
  • 77.5% of cloud-buying enterprises use sophisticated cloud services; 40.9% of all EU enterprises are highly dependent on the cloud (Eurostat, 2025)
  • EU target: under the Digital Decade, three in four companies should use cloud, big data or AI by 2030 (Eurostat)
Section 2

Cloud spend & budgets

Global
$723.4B

worldwide public cloud spend, 2025 forecast

2024: $595.7B 2025: +21.5%

Source: Gartner, 2024

Infrastructure
$558B

cloud infrastructure services revenue over the last 12 months

Q3 2026: $167.7B +55% YoY

Source: Synergy Research Group, 2026

Europe
€61B

European cloud infrastructure market 2024

H1 2025: €36B 2025: about +24%

Source: Synergy Research Group, 2025

Public cloud spend by service model (2025 forecast)

SaaS (Software as a Service) $299.1B
$299.1B
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) $211.9B
$211.9B
PaaS (Platform as a Service) $208.6B
$208.6B

Source: Gartner, 2024

  • IaaS is the fastest-growing segment: +24.8% in 2025, against +21.6% for PaaS and +19.2% for SaaS (Gartner, 2024)
  • Cloud infrastructure and platform services were forecast at $301 billion in 2025, up 24.2% (Gartner, 2024)
  • 29% of cloud spend is wasted, the first increase in five years, as AI workloads add cost complexity (Flexera, 2026)
  • 85% of organizations say managing cloud spend is a top challenge; 63% have a FinOps team and 71% a Cloud Center of Excellence (Flexera, 2026)
  • The European market grew sixfold between 2017 and 2024; European providers tripled their revenues but lost share (Synergy Research Group, 2025)
Section 3

AWS, Azure & Google Cloud

Global market share cloud infrastructure services (Q3 2026)

Amazon (AWS)
26%
Microsoft (Azure)
19%
Google Cloud
16%

Source: Synergy Research Group, 2026

+48%

Azure revenue growth, July to September 2026

Source: Microsoft, 2026

+39%

AWS revenue growth in Q3 2026, to $46.0 billion

Source: Amazon, 2026

$30.7B

Google Cloud revenue in Q3 2026 (Q3 2025: $15.2B)

Source: Alphabet, 2026

  • Microsoft and Google grow faster than Amazon: AWS still leads with 26%, ahead of Microsoft (19%) and Google (16%) (Synergy Research Group, 2026)
  • AWS operating income reached $17.8 billion in Q3 2026, up from $11.4 billion a year earlier (Amazon, 2026)
  • Microsoft Cloud revenue was $63.9 billion in July to September 2026, up 30% (Microsoft, 2026)
  • Google Cloud operating income rose to $11.1 billion in Q3 2026, from $3.6 billion a year earlier (Alphabet, 2026)
  • In Europe, Amazon, Microsoft and Google together hold 70% of the market; European providers hold about 15% (29% in 2017), with SAP and Deutsche Telekom the largest at 2% each (Synergy Research Group, 2025)
  • AWS (83%) is slightly ahead of Azure (79%) in use for active enterprise workloads (Flexera, 2026)
Section 4

Multi-cloud & hybrid strategies

88%

of organizations use multi-cloud

Source: Flexera, 2026

73%

run hybrid environments (public + private cloud)

Source: Flexera, 2026

2.1

public cloud providers used by the average organization

Source: Thales, 2025

82%

of container users run Kubernetes in production

Source: CNCF, 2026

Cloud strategy and governance

Practice % of organizations Trend
Hybrid cloud (public + private) 73% +3 pts
Multi-cloud 88% n/a
Cloud Center of Excellence 71% n/a
Dedicated FinOps team 63% n/a
Using generative AI 81% +9 pts
Using generative AI extensively 45% +9 pts

Sources: Flexera, 2026; Flexera (German release), 2026 (trend versus the 2025 survey)

  • Kubernetes in production rose from 66% of container users in 2023 to 82% in 2025 (CNCF, 2026)
  • 98% of organizations have adopted cloud native techniques; for 59%, much or nearly all development and deployment is cloud native (CNCF, 2026)
  • 66% of organizations hosting generative AI models use Kubernetes for some or all inference (CNCF, 2026)
  • The average enterprise uses 85 SaaS applications (Thales, 2025)
  • Smaller companies rely less on MSPs: 39%, down from 48% a year earlier (Flexera, 2026)
Section 5

Cloud security & compliance

55%

say cloud is harder to secure than on-premises

Source: Thales, 2025

$4.44M

global average cost of a data breach

Source: IBM, 2025

64%

rank cloud security in their top 5 priorities

Source: Thales, 2025

Most targeted assets in reported attacks

Cloud-based storage 35%
35%
Cloud-delivered applications 34%
34%
Cloud management infrastructure 32%
32%

Source: Thales Data Threat Report via Virtualization Review, 2026

  • Only 7% of organizations encrypt more than 80% of their sensitive cloud data; 29% encrypt more than 60% (Thales via Virtualization Review, 2026)
  • 85% say at least 40% of their cloud data is sensitive (Thales, 2025)
  • 68% report a rise in access-based attacks, while only 66% have implemented multifactor authentication (Thales, 2025)
  • 13% of organizations reported breaches of AI models or applications; 97% of them lacked proper AI access controls (IBM, 2025)
  • A breach takes 241 days to identify and contain on average; the average US breach costs $10.22 million (IBM, 2025)
  • Cloud security is the number one security spending priority, with AI security second (Thales via Virtualization Review, 2026)
Section 6

Global datacenter infrastructure

12.1 GW

operational datacenter capacity in EMEA (H1 2026)

Source: Cushman & Wakefield, 2026

$220B

expected Amazon capital expenditure in 2026

Source: Amazon, 2026

1.54

average datacenter PUE, flat for six years

Source: Uptime Institute, 2025

927 MW

operational datacenter capacity in Amsterdam

Source: Cushman & Wakefield, 2026

Top datacenter markets by capacity

Market Capacity (MW)
London (UK) 1,380 MW
Amsterdam (Netherlands) 927 MW
FLAP-D (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin) 5,200 MW
Scandinavia about 2,100 MW
EMEA under construction 3,800 MW

Source: Cushman & Wakefield, 2026 (operational capacity H1 2026)

  • Alphabet spent $51.4 billion on property and equipment in Q3 2026, up from $24.0 billion a year earlier (Alphabet, 2026)
  • EMEA capacity grew 36% from 8.9 GW in Q2 2024 to 12.1 GW; FLAP-D markets hold about 43% (Cushman & Wakefield, 2026)
  • Efficiency has stalled: average PUE fell from 2.50 in 2007 to 1.54 in 2025; facilities built since 2020 average 1.48 and sites of 20 MW and above 1.44 (Uptime Institute, 2025)
  • The Netherlands had just over 1.5 GW of datacenter IT capacity at the end of 2025, up 7% (Dutch Data Center Association via Dutch IT Channel, 2026)
  • Dutch datacenters used 4.6% of all electricity in the Netherlands in 2024 (5,100 GWh), from 3.3% in 2021; the country has about 200 datacenters (CBS, 2025)
  • AMS-IX in Amsterdam connects 915 networks, with peak traffic of 15.8 Tb/s (AMS-IX, 2026)
Section 7

Future predictions

2027

Hybrid cloud becomes near-universal

90% of organizations will adopt a hybrid cloud approach through 2027.

Source: Gartner, 2024

2027

Europe overtakes North America in sovereign cloud

European sovereign cloud IaaS spending is forecast to grow from $6.9 billion in 2025 to $23.1 billion in 2027, ahead of North America ($21.1 billion).

Source: Gartner, 2026

2028

A quarter of organizations dissatisfied

25% of organizations will have experienced significant dissatisfaction with their cloud adoption by 2028.

Source: Gartner, 2025

2029

AI takes half of cloud compute

50% of cloud compute resources will be devoted to AI workloads by 2029, up from less than 10% in 2025.

Source: Gartner, 2025

2031

Dutch datacenter capacity reaches 2.8 GW

With 12% annual growth, Dutch datacenter IT capacity grows from 1.5 GW to 2.8 GW by 2031 (scenarios: 2.1 to 3.2 GW).

Source: Dutch Data Center Association via Dutch IT Channel, 2026

  • Sovereign cloud: worldwide sovereign cloud IaaS spending reaches $80.4 billion in 2026, up 35.6%; about 20% of current workloads will shift from global to local providers (Gartner, 2026)
  • Digital sovereignty: over 50% of multinationals will have digital sovereign strategies by 2029, up from less than 10% (Gartner, 2025)
  • Industry clouds and sustainability: over 50% of organizations will use industry cloud platforms by 2029, and over 50% will prioritize sustainability in cloud procurement (Gartner, 2025)
  • Multi-cloud disappointment: more than 50% of organizations will not get the expected results from their multicloud implementations by 2029 (Gartner, 2025)
Summary

Key takeaways

1

Cloud is mainstream in Europe

52.7% of EU businesses buy cloud services, 84.7% of large enterprises. Finland leads at 79.2%, the Netherlands is 7th at 68.5%.

2

AWS leads, Microsoft and Google grow faster

Amazon holds 26% of cloud infrastructure, Microsoft 19%, Google 16%. Azure grew 48% and Google Cloud doubled its revenue.

3

A market growing over 20% a year

Gartner forecast $723.4 billion in public cloud spend for 2025 (+21.5%). Cloud infrastructure services grew 55% in Q3 2026.

4

Hybrid and multi-cloud are the norm

73% run hybrid environments and 88% use multi-cloud. 82% of container users run Kubernetes in production.

5

Security remains critical

A breach costs $4.44 million on average. 55% find cloud harder to secure, and only 7% encrypt more than 80% of sensitive cloud data.

6

AI drives cloud growth

AI-specific services are about one third of the infrastructure market. Gartner expects half of cloud compute to go to AI by 2029.

Methodology & sources

The statistics on this page come from publicly available sources. Every figure links to the page we opened to check it (last checked 9 November 2026). Key sources include:

  • Eurostat: ICT usage in enterprises 2025, cloud computing services by size class and sector
  • Gartner: public cloud spending forecast, cloud trends, sovereign cloud forecast
  • Synergy Research Group: cloud infrastructure market share Q3 2026, European cloud market
  • Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet: quarterly results July to September 2026
  • Flexera: State of the Cloud Report 2026
  • CNCF: Annual Cloud Native Survey 2025
  • Thales and IBM: Cloud Security Study 2025, Data Threat Report 2026, Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025
  • Uptime Institute, Cushman & Wakefield, CBS, Dutch Data Center Association, AMS-IX: datacenter data

Disclaimer: Forecasts (Gartner) are projections, not measurements. Survey figures (Flexera, Thales, CNCF) describe the respondents of those surveys. Synergy measures cloud infrastructure services only, Gartner all public cloud services, so the amounts are not directly comparable. This page is compiled for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or strategic advice.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of businesses use cloud computing in 2026?

In 2025, 52.7% of EU enterprises with 10 or more employees bought cloud computing services, up from 45.3% in 2023 (Eurostat, latest data). Among large enterprises (250+ employees) the share is 84.7%. Finland leads (79.2%), followed by Italy (75.6%) and Malta (75.1%); the Netherlands ranks 7th at 68.5%. By sector, information and communication is highest at 82.9%.

What are the market shares of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud in 2026?

In Q3 2026, Amazon held 26% of the worldwide cloud infrastructure services market, Microsoft 19% and Google 16%, according to Synergy Research Group. Microsoft and Google grew faster: Azure revenue rose 48% and Google Cloud revenue doubled to $30.7 billion, while AWS grew 39% to $46.0 billion. In Europe, Amazon, Microsoft and Google together hold about 70% of the market and European providers about 15%.

How much do businesses spend on cloud computing in 2026?

Gartner forecast worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services at $723.4 billion in 2025, up 21.5% from $595.7 billion in 2024. SaaS is the largest segment ($299.1 billion), IaaS the fastest growing (+24.8%). Spending on cloud infrastructure services alone reached $167.7 billion in Q3 2026 (Synergy Research Group). Flexera reports that 29% of cloud spend is wasted, the first increase in five years.

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Ruud ten Have

Compiled by

Ruud ten Have

Ruud is a digital marketer with 10+ years of experience in online advertising and AI implementation. At Searchlab, he combines strategic thinking with hands-on AI tooling to deliver measurable results for businesses.

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