SINGAPORE: Tokyo has Asia's most expensive office costs -- and the second costliest in the world -- with Hong Kong and Mumbai also in the world's top ten, an industry report said on Tuesday.

Tokyo's inner central area fetched 145.68 US dollars per square foot per annum, coming after global leader London's West End, real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis said in its six-monthly report. It measured office occupancy costs which cover rentals, taxes and service charges.

London city was the third most expensive district worldwide, with Tokyo's outer central district following at fourth place. Hong Kong was number five globally and Mumbai seventh behind Moscow but ahead of eight-ranked Paris.

Office occupancy costs in Mumbai's Nariman Point surged more than 158 per cent to 106 dollars per square foot per annum over the past year, while they climbed 35 per cent to 116 dollars in Hong Kong, CB Richard Ellis said.

New Delhi was in 11th place, more expensive than Seoul which was ranked 16.

The Indian capital saw the steepest rise among Asian cities, rising to 81.87 dollars a square foot per annum from only 18.59 dollars a year earlier, CB Richard Ellis said.

Southeast Asia's most advanced economy Singapore was ranked 37th, up six places from the previous survey done in May.

“The rise in Singapore's ranking is consistent with the rental growth acceleration experienced over the past six months,” said Moray Armstrong, CB Richard Ellis executive director for office services in the city-state.

Despite the rising costs, Singapore remains competitive against Tokyo and Hong Kong, he said. But he said there is concern that the “tightening availability of space is starting to impact businesses' ability to accommodate growth.” The consultancy said developing countries accounted for half of the 20 markets with the fastest growing occupancy costs for prime office space.—AFP