Twelve of the world's 50 most expensive office markets are located in the UK, compared with just two in the US—Midtown at $103.43 and suburban Los Angeles, where occupancy costs average $62.06 per sf. Canada and China also figure in the rankings with two markets each. On a continent-by-continent basis, Europe leads the way with 29 of the 50 most expensive office markets, followed by Asia with 12, North America with four, Australia with three and South America with two.

Among markets with the fastest-growing occupancy costs, Midtown just misses getting a spot in the top 20, coming in at number 21 with a 22.7% increase compared to a year earlier. That's slightly higher than the 22.6% gain experienced by Bangalore, India.

Domestically, three US markets—suburban Miami with a 28.9% increase, Seattle's CBD at 25.8% and Houston at 24.7%—have experienced more rapid growth in occupancy costs over the past year than Midtown, although in this ranking Midtown comes in slightly higher than London's West End. Downtown's 15.7% increase in occupancy costs over the past 12 months earned it a spot in 44th place.