World's 10 Most Expensive Retail Locations: Cushman & Wakefield

Models Wear Fur In Hong Kong — Fur-clad models pose at a Hong Kong International Fur and Fashion Fair. China’s growing affluence has helped send U.S. mink prices through the roof. South China Morning Post

Hong Kong's Causeway Bay is the most expensive retail location in the world for the second year in a row, according to an annual global measure of the retail sector by Cushman & Wakefield. The firm tracks rents in 334 top shopping locations in 64 countries to determine the rankings.

Causeway Bay's average rent costs more than $3,000 per square foot, the highest rent recorded in the report's 25-year history, Cushman & Wakefield said Thursday. New York's Fifth Avenue and Paris' Avenue des Champs Elysees followed behind Hong Kong, at about $2,500 and $1,600, respectively, with Paris' rent rocketing nearly 40 percent in the past year. Rents on London's New Bond Street increased by 15 percent, pushing that location to fourth place from last year's sixth place.

Overall, global retail rents rose 3.2 percent in the past year, and though the Americas didn't make the top 10, rents for their prime shopping locations are increasing the fastest, at an average 5.8 percent.

Here are the world's 10 costliest locations for retail:

1. Causeway Bay

Location: Hong Kong (China)

Price: $3,017/sq. ft.

Growth in 2012-2013: 14.7%

2. Fifth Avenue

Location: New York City, U.S.

Price: $2,500/ sq. ft.

Growth in 2012-2013: 0.0%

3. Avenue des Champs Elysees

Location: Paris, France

Price: $1,601/ sq. ft.