It’s not Fifth Avenue or the Champs-Élysées: this is the most expensive shopping street in the world

Milan’s Via Montenapoleone is now the world’s most expensive shopping street by retail rental rate, according to a new study.

In the latest edition of Cushman & Wakefield’s annual “Main Streets across the World” report, Via Montenapoleone overtook New York’s Fifth Avenue as the globe’s priciest retail destination.

“This reflects robust rental growth on the Italian street, exceeding 30% in the last two years, further bolstered this year by the euro’s appreciation against the U.S. dollar,” Cushman & Wakefield said. It is the first time that the international real estate company, which began compiling its list in 1988, has named a European shopping street as the planet’s most expensive.

How much does Via Montenapoleone cost?

The firm’s 2024 report reveals that average rents on Via Montenapoleone, a street which houses high-end retailers such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Montblanc, reached $2,047 per square foot per year in 2024. That represents an 11% increase on 2023. Meanwhile, Fifth Avenue’s average annual per-foot rent price remained at $2,000; it has not changed since 2022.

London’s New Bond Street placed third, having climbed up Cushman & Wakefield’s rankings with an average rental rate of $1,762 per square foot per year.

World’s most expensive shopping streets – top 10:

1. Via Montenapoleone, Milan

2. Fifth Avenue, New York

3. New Bond Street, London

4. Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

5. Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris

6. Ginza, Tokyo

7. Pitt Street Mall, Sydney

8. Myeongdong, Seoul

9. Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich

10. Kohlmarkt, Vienna

How is the ranking put together?

Cushman & Wakefield says it monitors retail rental rates in 138 cities worldwide, “tracking year-over-year (YOY) changes while accounting for foreign exchange rates and local metrics”. Read the firm’s full “Main Streets across the World 2024” report.

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