Myeong-dong Is World's 9th Most Expensive Shopping Street

New York's Fifth Avenue retained its position as the world's most expensive shopping street for the 10th year running, while Seoul's Myeong-dong ranked ninth.

In a survey by estate agents Cushman & Wakefield, Fifth Avenue topped the list with rents up 21.6 percent on-year to 16,704 euros (W25.36 million) per square meter. The annual "Main Streets Across the World" report released Thursday covers 278 main streets in 63 countries.

Fifth Avenue is home to high-end designer boutiques and department stores. Despite the widening income gap around the world since the global financial crisis in 2008, the rich have not cut their consumption, and rents have increased in high-end shopping malls where designer boutiques with increasing sales are clustered, C&W said.

Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, where business is booming, came second with rents of 14,426 euros per square meter. Tokyo's Ginza was third with 7,750 euros.

Sydney's Pitt Street Mall jumped from ninth to fourth place after massive renovations pushed rents up 33.3 percent over the last year. In contrast, New Bond Street in London slid by two notches to sixth place, giving up the title of Europe's most expensive shopping district to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, which came fifth.

The average monthly rent per square meter in Seoul's Myeong-dong rose 0.6 percent to W608,100 (US$1=W1,063). Rents in the other upscale shopping districts in Seoul, Gangnam Subway Station and Apgujeong, increased by 2.7 percent and 12.9 percent, but remains much lower than in Myeong-dong.