Central in Hong Kong often tops the list, as offices in prime locations are highly demanded by local businesses and international operators alike. Second came the West End of London, followed in order by the most central areas of Tokyo, Beijing, and New Delhi.
The Finance Street and West Kowloon districts of Beijing and Hong Kong were rated sixth and seventh in the list, respectively.
According to CBRE’s report, average office space occupancy costs worldwide increased by 2. 1 per cent annually to December 2012, with the Americas and Asia-Pacific seeing the most notable rises. Prime occupancy costs fell, however, on average across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The report rated the City of London as the ninth most expensive place to rent office space, just behind Moscow, the only non-UK European representative in the top ten list.
CBRE’s chief global economist, Dr Raymond Torto, said: “The global office market recovery cooled over the past year, hampered by the ongoing European debt crisis, a deceleration of growth in emerging markets and ubiquitous uncertainty created by the ‘fiscal cliff’ in the US.
“However, tight market conditions, strong demand for high-quality space and low levels of new construction continue to drive up occupancy costs in many prime office markets across the globe.”
133 major cities were tracked to inform the findings of CBRE’s report, and the real estate firm itself has a globe-spanning network of offices.
Editor’s notes: As of 2024, the Central District of Hong Kong remains among the top three most expensive locations in the world to rent office space. Other contenders in the top three are Midtown Manhattan and the West End of London.
In 2022, Finance Street in Beijing was the 5th most expensive location in the world to rent office space.