After a very strong first quarter earlier this year, the European data centre market is back on course to match or slightly overtake last year’s performance, according to property services firm CBRE.

Take-up of data centre space in Europe’s major cities grew by 33% in the first half of the year, CBRE found, but that uptick was due mainly to an "exceptional" first quarter.

With 23,350 square meters of data centre space being acquired in the first half of the year, it seems likely that the total take-up for the year will roughly match last year’s figure of 47,105 square feet.

According to Martin Carroll, director at CBRE’s data centre practice, the first quarter of this year saw the release of a degree of "pent up" demand for data centre space. "Some organisations had delayed purchasing as they put operational expenditure controls in place," he said today. "So in Q1 we saw a lot of deals that had been postponed last year".

The market’s performance in Q2, however, means that it is on course to match last year’s performance – not that this is bad thing, Carroll adds. "If you look at other real estate segments, such as office space or real estate, take-up of data centre space is pretty stellar".

In London, the total data centre space occupied during the year so far is already 87% of last year’s total, at 10,545. In the second quarter, however, take-up fell sharply from Q1, down to 1,475 square meters.