ONS revises UK digital infrastructure figures and adds 2025 estimates as data centres and AI reshape investment picture

The Office for National Statistics has updated its digital economy analysis with more recent data and 2025 estimates where available, as data centres and artificial intelligence draw growing attention in UK investment measurement.

The UK government forecasts the country will need at least 6 GW of AI-capable data-centre capacity by 2030 — a target that sits alongside a commitment to invest over £1 billion to expand the AI Research Resource twenty-fold by the same year. The ONS update, announced via its official account, adds 2025 estimates to an existing 2024 analysis and takes a closer look at how data centres, AI and government support for digital infrastructure fit into the broader economic picture.

The revision matters because earlier national accounts did not fully capture data centres, related equipment, software and spectrum permits. ONS said as much in a July 2024 article, which noted that data centres and equipment within them were excluded from the estimates discussed at that time. The figures remain classified as official statistics in development — meaning they carry authority but are still being refined.

That’s a meaningful caveat. The need for revised methodology suggests earlier estimates may have understated digital infrastructure investment, though the exact scale of any undercount is not yet clear from the material published.

For Kent, no direct impact is confirmed in the material reviewed. But the county could feel indirect pressure if data-centre or AI-related development expands across the South East — above all around grid capacity, land use and planning decisions. Local authorities may face questions over power connections, transport impacts and where large digital infrastructure sites are proposed, in line with the government’s AI Growth Zones programme, which is designed to unlock investment in AI-enabled data centres. Businesses in Kent using cloud services or AI tools may benefit from improved infrastructure, though the local distribution of any investment remains unverified.