Forget 5th Avenue — the world's priciest shopping street is now in London's West End

The most expensive street in the world is not in New York, Paris or Tokyo but in humble old London, where New Bond Street has claimed the dubious title for the first time.

This is according to real estate company Cushman & Wakefield, which works out the priciest places in the world based on how much buildings cost to rent, per square foot.

A spot on New Bond Street will set you back £1704 per square foot, per year, a figure that has jumped a whopping 22% since last year.

That great big jump in rent cost saw New Bond Street leap over both last year’s top-billing road, Milan’s Via Montenapoleone (£1663/sqft), and New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue (£1527/sqft). Neither of those has seen a rate jump, in stark contrast to the London situation.

New Bond Street may not be the sort of place many of us saunter down when looking for some new socks. But the cast of shops dotted along its pavements make the sky-high cost of the place no surprise.

Along New Bond Street you’ll find brands like Dior, Fendi, Montblanc, Patek Philippe, Prada and Valentino. It’s so exclusive a club there’s even a website dedicated to the street’s commerce.

Not a Gregg’s in sight, although you can of course reach one within a few minutes’ walk. That’s the wonder of London, right?

Here’s the full top 10 list of pricey places across the world, for 2025.

1. New Bond Street, London
2. Via Montenapoleone, Milan
3. Upper Fifth Avenue, New York
4. Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
5. Avenue des Champs Élysées, Paris
6. Ginza, Tokyo
7. Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich
8. Pitt Street Mall, Sydney
9. Myeongdong, Seoul
10. Kohlmarkt, Vienna

New Bond Street easily saw the biggest rent increase in this hall of fame, 22%, while the second biggest increase coming from Ginza in Tokyo, with a 10% bump.

While it’s easy to take data like this as a fun bit of fluff, it’s emblematic of the struggles UK businesses face at present in making a profit. It’s all eyes on the Labour Party’s budget, due to be revealed on Wednesday November 26th, as businesses anticipate policy changes may make it harder to make a profit.

James Taylor — Brewdog CEO — has claimed the hospitality sector needs to sell almost a million combined pints per hour to cover the additional costs the sector has accrued over the last year.

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