The global cloud infrastructure services market reached $330.4bn in 2024, marking an increase of $60bn from 2023 and $102bn from 2022, according to new research from Synergy Research Group. This rapid expansion has been significantly influenced by rising demand for generative AI (GenAI) technologies, which accounted for nearly half of the total growth registered in the past two years.
Enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services totalled $90.6bn in the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4 2024), up 22% from $74bn in the same period of 2023. This growth was fuelled by new GenAI platform services, graphics processing unit (GPU) as a service offerings and enhancements to existing cloud solutions. The launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 accelerated demand for AI-driven cloud infrastructure globally, contributing to sharp growth post-2022.
“Q4 was another strong quarter for cloud services, helping to drive a full-year growth rate that was four percentage points higher than 2023. For such a big market, that’s an impressive acceleration,” said Synergy Research Group chief analyst John Dinsdale. “Since ChatGPT’s launch, GenAI has been responsible for at least half of the increase in cloud service revenues, driven by new GenAI/GPU services and AI-driven improvements to existing cloud offerings.”
Amazon Web Services (AWS) maintained its leading position with a 30% global market share in Q4 2024, followed by Microsoft Azure at 21% and Google Cloud at 12%. Despite Amazon’s dominance, Microsoft and Google reported higher year-on-year growth rates, reflecting shifting competitive dynamics.
Second-tier providers, including CoreWeave, Oracle, Snowflake, Cloudflare, and Databricks, recorded significant growth. CoreWeave’s focus on AI and GPU-powered services helped it break into the top 20 global cloud providers, highlighting the growing demand for specialised AI infrastructure services.
Public infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) accounted for the bulk of the market, growing by 24% in Q4 2024. The dominance of major providers was even more pronounced in the public cloud segment, where Amazon, Microsoft, and Google collectively held 68% of the market.
Regionally, the cloud infrastructure market experienced robust growth across all geographies. The US remained the largest cloud market, with a 23% increase in Q4 2024, far surpassing the scale of the entire Asia-Pacific region. In Europe, the UK and Germany were the largest markets, while Ireland, Spain, and Italy saw the highest growth rates. Emerging markets such as Brazil, India, and Japan also grew above the global average when measured in local currencies.
The data suggests that the adoption of GenAI technologies, coupled with continued demand for traditional cloud infrastructure services, will drive further growth in the coming years.
AWS reports $107.6bn in annual revenue, boosting cloud market growth
AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing division, reported strong performance in 2024, significantly contributing to the growth of the global cloud market. AWS generated $28.8bn in revenue during Q4 2024, reflecting a 19% year-on-year increase from $24.2bn in Q4 2023. For the full year, AWS revenue reached $107.6bn, marking a 19% increase compared to 2023.
The operating income of AWS rose to $10.6bn in Q4 2024 from $7.2bn a year earlier. For the full year, operating income climbed to $39.8bn, up from $24.6bn in 2023, which is a 62% year-on-year increase.
AWS’s growth was driven by demand for cloud infrastructure, particularly in GenAI, high-performance computing, and machine learning. Key innovations included the launch of the Trainium2 AI chip, enhancements to Amazon Bedrock, and advancements in Amazon SageMaker, attracting new enterprise clients.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has indicated it may investigate AWS and Microsoft following a 14-month inquiry into the UK cloud services market. The CMA found limited competition, with technical barriers making it difficult for customers to switch providers. A final decision on potential actions under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) is expected by August 2025, according to Kip Meek, chair of the CMA’s independent inquiry group.
Read more: CMA considers investigating AWS and Microsoft’s UK cloud activities following market investigation
