The outperformance of emerging economies such as China and Brazil can be seen in the latest Office Space Across the World report from Cushman & Wakefield, which looks at the rental performance of global office markets. The most expensive city, by prime office rents, was Hong Kong, which surged past Tokyo and London to take the top spot; rents in Hong Kong rose by 51 percent in 2010. In addition, Rio de Janeiro holds the fourth position, with a 47 percent increase in office rents.

“The rise of rents in Rio de Janeiro’s office market results from very high demand and a lack of supply in the city,” says Mariana Mokayad Hanania, manager – research services, Cushman & Wakefield South America. “The quality of the new stock being delivered is speeding up rental growth.”

By contrast, the established markets of Europe and North America did not see the same level of rental growth, although specific prime markets outperformed. While the United States overall