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The C&W report analyzes the evolution of the industrial and logistics real estate market in a global context.

Over the past fifty years, global trade has grown exponentially thanks to “containerization” and ICT technologies, facilitating the relocation of production to lower-cost regions such as the Asia-Pacific (India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China), Latin America (Mexico, Costa Rica), and Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe. However, recent crises—the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic, and recent geopolitical tensions—have exposed the vulnerability of overly long supply chains, ushering in a phase of “post-peak globalization” characterized by slower trade and strategies of nearshoring and supplier diversification, benefiting Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Central America in particular. Retail remains a pillar of demand for logistics space (25–30% of new leases), followed by third-party logistics providers (27–33%).

Rents are on average 41% higher than in 2019, with record increases observed in the United States (+57%) and the EMEA region (+38%), where the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Norway recorded the strongest growth. In Asia-Pacific, the average increase is 25%, with peaks exceeding 70% in Australia and Vietnam. In 2024, however, global rent growth slowed to 2.9% (from +6.9% in 2023 and +16.1% in 2022), signaling a gradual slowdown due to rising vacancy rates. Currently, about 60% of markets still show rent growth, but two-thirds of these are growing at slower rates than in previous years. The differences remain marked: more than half of the markets analyzed have values ranging from $5 to $10 per square foot per year (equivalent to approximately $54–$108 per square meter per year), while only a few—such as London, New York, and Hong Kong—exceed $20 per square foot (approximately $215 per square meter per year).

Market competitiveness depends primarily on labor costs, access to energy, and the degree of automation. Asian countries maintain an advantage thanks to wages that are 30–50% lower than the global average, while in Europe, higher costs—up to double in Switzerland—drive automation. Energy remains more expensive on the European continent, which is penalized by its dependence on imported gas. In the coming years, demand for space will continue to be driven by e-commerce, manufacturing, the automotive sector, and high-tech, with 60% of EMEA markets and 62% of APAC markets expecting further rent increases by 2027. Following a slowdown in investment in 2025, a recovery is expected in 2026, driven by more expansionary monetary policies.

Download the report here