See examples of offices for rent in Hong Kong here
The South Asian city overtook London’s West End in 2010 as the most expensive office location per workstation in the world.
Last year saw costs in Hong Kong’s main commercial districts of Central and Admiralty rise by 31 per cent, while in London’s West End, costs rose by 9 per cent.
The Hong Kong property market has seen massive fluctuations in the past, though it has always remained one of the most expensive in the world.
DTZ’s report stated: “The prime rent took only one year to recover its ground in the wake of the financial crisis.
“We forecast Hong Kong will continue to outpace other markets in the region, with the gap between it and other centres widening as occupancy costs increase by $9,190 to reach $31,520 by 2015.”
The Hong Kong government recently announced that the jobless rate decreased to 3.6 per cent in the three-month period to February 28th. This represents a two-and-a-half-year low for the former British colony.
HSBC economist Donna Kwok told the Wall Street Journal: “With robust local and foreign demand continuing to support headcount expansion plans, we think there’s room yet for the unemployment rate to inch down further before stabilising in the second quarter.”
However, economists are keeping a careful eye on stocks as the crisis in Japan continues to unfold.
The biggest decrease in occupancy costs per workstation was in Hanoi, where weak demand and abundant supply led landlords to offer larger rent incentives.
Tokyo, Canberra and Dalian also saw significant declines in cost, according to the DTZ report.
Editor’s notes: According to JLL’s Premium Office Rent Tracker, which tracks overall occupancy costs (net effective rents plus additional costs) in 134 key locations around the world, in 2022, Hong Kong’s Central district was again the most expensive place in the world to rent office space with a gross effective rate of $259 per square foot per year.
London’s West End district ranked third at $182 per square foot, with New York’s Midtown district coming in second at $220 per square foot.
By comparison, the best-in-class office space in Hanoi commanded $57 per square foot overall, and the gross occupancy costs for the same quality space in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district in 2022 were $103 per square foot.
Canberra and Dalian were not included in the 2022 Premium Office Rent Tracker.
In February 2026, Savills published its Global Occupier Markets: Prime Office Costs – Q4 2025 report. Using net effective cost per square foot per annum, it found that London’s West End was the most expensive location in which to rent office space in Q4 2025 at $336.65 per square foot, representing a 4.2 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
Hong Kong was the second most expensive location at $227.68 per square foot, unchanged from the previous quarter.
Tokyo was ranked fifth at $168.67, up 5.2 per cent from the previous quarter.
Canberra and Dalian were not included in Savills’ research of the 40 most expensive locations to rent office space in the world.