In the past decade, cloud technology has revolutionized the way businesses operate. Offering invaluable benefits such as speed, flexibility, and security, cloud computing has become a necessity for countless companies around the world.
Recent research says that more than 94% of organizations have a large portion of their workloads in the cloud. But with so many countries utilizing these systems, which countries around the globe currently have the best cloud technology of all?
To find out, we conducted a study analyzing various metrics related to cloud technology in 30 OECD countries. These metrics include network speed, cyber safety score, the number of cloud-based jobs, the average salary of cloud engineers, and the amount of investment in AI tech by each country.
We then created an overall score to reveal which countries in the world currently provide the best cloud technology.
The Top 10 Countries With The Best Cloud Technology
| Rank | Country | Number Of Cloud Data Centers | Network Speed (Mbps) | Cyber Safety Score | Number Of Cloud-Based Jobs | Average Annual Salary Of A Cloud Engineer (U.S. Dollars) | Country Total Investment In AI Technology In 2023 (U.S. Dollars) | Overall Score Out Of 10 |
| 1 | United States | 2,529 | 254 | 83.5 | 18,099 | $120,638 | $54,836,000,000 | 9.72 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 89 | 205.1 | 82.1 | 552 | $118,458 | $314,000,000 | 4.87 |
| 3 | Denmark | 41 | 224.1 | 88.4 | 111 | $87,027 | $177,000,000 | 4.73 |
| 4 | France | 204 | 242.5 | 86.4 | 2,719 | $53,550 | $2,027,000,000 | 4.66 |
| 5 | Canada | 230 | 198.2 | 82.4 | 1,273 | $65,761 | $1,847,000,000 | 4.24 |
| 6 | Germany | 313 | 91.7 | 88.1 | 5,820 | $69,236 | $2,159,000,000 | 4.17 |
| 7 | Spain | 97 | 217.3 | 88.6 | 883 | $40,568 | $287,000,000 | 4.11 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 156 | 192.8 | 84.7 | 1,151 | $45,436 | $338,000,000 | 3.90 |
| 9 | United Kingdom | 346 | 104.5 | 85.6 | 1,522 | $63,630 | $3,085,000,000 | 3.77 |
| 10 | Japan | 100 | 196.6 | 82.6 | 815 | $39,017 | $1,384,000,000 | 3.72 |
1. United States
Our research shows the U.S. is the country with the best cloud technology, thanks to its robust infrastructure, fast network connections, and continuous innovation in the cloud computing field.
With 2,529 cloud data centers overall, the U.S. has the highest number compared to any other country in the world. This figure surpasses Japan, number 10 in our ranking, by a staggering 2,400 centers.
The sheer number of data centers not only caters to the 71% of Americans who use cloud storage but provides additional reliability and security to support the massive amounts of data and computing power required by cloud services.
The U.S. boasts an impressive cyber safety score of 83.5, which is crucial to ensure all data is kept secure and confidential within a cloud service provider. Pairing this with high internet speeds of 254 Mbps, it is clear the nation is investing a lot of time and resources into cloud technology.
These factors highlight the extensive reach of cloud technology in the United States, demonstrating the considerable investment driving its growth. In fact, data has revealed that the U.S. cloud computing market will grow at a 13.1% CAGR between 2023 and 2030.
2. Switzerland
While Switzerland may have fewer data centers than the U.S. — which is understandable considering the size difference between the two nations — Switzerland still boasts a total of 89 centers overall, securing the eleventh position globally for this metric.
Switzerland follows closely behind the U.S. for internet speed, ranking fifth globally with a speed of 205 Mbps. Our research also demonstrates the country’s commitment to cyber safety, as it follows just behind the U.S with a score of 82.
3. Denmark
Denmark has just 41 cloud data centers, but boasts the third-highest internet speed, averaging 224 Mbps, ensuring fast and reliable online connectivity for its population. The nation also has a reassuring cyber safety score of 88.4, ranking fourth in the list for this metric.
4. The UK and Canada
We also looked at the scores for the UK and Canada to see how these countries compared to our top three.
Canada ranks fifth in the world for cloud technology. However, there is a significant difference in the number of cloud data centers between Canada and the U.S., with the latter hosting over 2,000 more than Canada’s 230.
Despite Canada’s high ranking, the U.S. stands out in our top 10 ranking due to its vast capacity and innovative advancements in cloud technology. Canada also has a quality internet speed of 198.2 Mbps and a solid cyber safety score of 82.4.
The UK ranks ninth on our list. It has the second-highest number of data centers, at 346. That’s still over 2,000 centers fewer than the U.S., but impressive for the size of the country, considering the U.S. is 40 times larger than the UK.
The internet speed in the UK is much lower than the top three in our list, at 105 Mbps, and has a cyber safety score of 85.6.
The Countries Investing The Most In AI
| Rank | Country | Country Investment In AI Tech 2023 |
| 1 | United States | $54,836,000,000 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | $3,085,000,000 |
| 3 | Germany | $2,159,000,000 |
| 4 | France | $2,027,000,000 |
| 5 | Sweden | $1,988,000,000 |
| 6 | Canada | $1,847,000,000 |
| 7 | Japan | $1,384,000,000 |
| 8 | Australia | $602,000,000 |
| 9 | Netherlands | $338,000,000 |
| 10 | Switzerland | $314,000,000 |
1. United States
The United States leads the way in global AI technology investment, having invested nearly $55 billion in this field. This investment reflects the nation’s commitment to advancing AI research and development, while also demonstrating its dedication to using artificial intelligence to further economic growth.
2. United Kingdom
The UK is ranked second in AI technology investment, having put over three billion dollars into this sector. This amount is substantially less than the investment made by the United States, which is a jaw-dropping $50 billion more than the UK.
3. Germany
Germany is in third place for AI technology investment, with a total investment of just over $2 billion. While this demonstrates a commitment to advancing AI within the country, it’s considerably less than the investments made by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Countries With The Best Opportunities For A Career In The Cloud
| Rank | Country | Number Of Cloud-Based Jobs | Average Salary Of Cloud Engineers (USD) |
| 1 | United States | 18,099 | $120,638 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 552 | $118,458 |
| 3 | Germany | 5,820 | $69,236 |
| 4 | Denmark | 111 | $87,027 |
| 5 | Australia | 498 | $72,964 |
| 6 | Canada | 1,273 | $65,761 |
| 7 | United Kingdom | 1,522 | $63,630 |
| 8 | Slovenia | 61 | $71,400 |
| 9 | France | 2,719 | $53,550 |
| 10 | Luxembourg | 94 | $64,909 |
The U.S. ranks first for career opportunities in the cloud. At the time of writing, there were over 18,000 jobs within this sector, from cloud support engineers to cloud administrators and analysts. In particular, the average salary for a cloud engineer here is $120,638, the highest salary of any other country in the study.
Switzerland follows in second, with the second-highest average salary for a cloud engineer ($118,458). Ranking third is Germany, where cloud engineers receive on average $69,263 per year. Tech workers in the country who are looking to get into a career in the cloud have high prospects, as there are over 5,000 vacancies for cloud-based jobs.
The Top 10 In-Demand Cloud Service Providers
Data reveals that Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts for 31% of the cloud market, with Microsoft Azure following behind with a market share of 24%. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) ranks third with a market share of 11%. The largest cloud service providers have a charge of 66% of the world’s market[1].
To determine which cloud service providers are currently in the most demand globally, we analyzed Google search volume (SV) for 25 of the world’s most popular cloud providers.
| Rank | Cloud Service | Average Monthly Worldwide SV |
| 1 | AWS | 2,240,000 |
| 2 | Cloudflare | 1,220,000 |
| 3 | Confluent | 823,000 |
| 4 | MongoDB | 823,000 |
| 5 | Snowflake | 823,000 |
| 6 | Databricks | 301,000 |
| 7 | Heroku | 301,000 |
| 8 | Microsoft Azure | 301,000 |
| 9 | Amplitude | 246,000 |
| 10 | Datadog | 201,000 |
Unsurprisingly due to its dominance in the market, AWS ranks as the most in-demand platform with an average monthly search volume of 2,240,000 across the globe.
Cloudflare ranks second with an average of over 1,220,000 searches per month, and Confluent follows with an average monthly search volume of 823,000.
MongoDB and Snowflake also average 823,000 searches per month. Databricks ranks sixth, seeing an average of 301,000 Google searches per month globally. Amplitude (246,000) and Datadog (201,000) also rank in the top 10.
The Importance Of Businesses Managing Cloud Costs
Cloud technology has become a crucial component for businesses in today’s world, offering countless benefits. However, effectively managing costs is equally important to ensure not only maximum efficiency, but cutting unnecessary costs.
Managing cloud costs not only helps businesses save significant amounts of money — e.g., by eliminating unnecessary resources, staying on top of cost anomalies, and building more efficiently — it also allows them to conduct more thorough and accurate financial planning years in advance.
Companies looking to fuel a proactive approach to cloud cost management should take an allocation-first approach to cloud cost management. Elite allocation — a.k.a., organizing your cloud costs — gives you a clear idea of what’s driving your cloud spending, who on your team is responsible for it, and how you can optimize it (beyond simple rightsizing and reservations).
Why Are Businesses Investing In AI And The Cloud?
The relationship between AI and cloud technology is symbiotic. When organizations invest in both AI and cloud technology, they unlock higher levels of productivity and efficiency.
Cloud technology provides the infrastructure and resources necessary for AI development and deployment. By leveraging the scalability and flexibility of cloud platforms, AI projects can be initiated, scaled, and managed more easily. This accelerates the development cycle of AI-driven products and services, allowing them to be brought to market quickly and efficiently.
AI also enhances cloud security by offering advanced threat detection. AI algorithms can analyze large amounts of data in real-time to identify patterns indicative of cyber threats or irregular activities. This proactive approach helps to strengthen cloud security measures, safeguarding data and applications hosted on cloud platforms.
Sources and methodology
To discover the countries with the best cloud technology around the world, we created a seedlist of 30 OECD countries, and then ranked these based on a series of metrics.
The metrics we used for this study are below:
- Network speed
- Cyber safety score
- The number of cloud data centers
- The number of cloud-based jobs
- The average salary of cloud engineers
- The amount of investment in AI tech
- Google Keyword Planner – Cloud Service Provider global search volume May 2023-May 2024.
Using the results for each of these metrics, we then created an overall score to reveal which countries in the world provide the best cloud technology.
Figures for network speed, cyber safety score, number of cloud data centers, investment in AI tech and average salary of cloud engineers are correct as of May 7, 2024.
The figures for the number of cloud-based jobs are correct as of May 13, 2024.
[1] The World’s Biggest Cloud Computing Service Providers | Visual Capitalist
The Cloud Cost Playbook
The step-by-step guide to cost maturity
