Hong Kong has taken the crown for the world's highest skyscraper office rents, according to Knight Frank.

Offices in Hong Kong's skyscrapers are the world's most expensive to rent, according to Knight Frank's Skyscraper 2015 Report.

With Hong Kong's low vacancy rate and constrained central business district, skyscraper offices in the city cost $250.50 a square foot to rent, according to the global property consultancy. 

But New York's 20 per cent growth to $150 was almost double that of Hong Kong since July 2014. Demand for high-rise workplaces here was spurred on by the US' economic recovery.

“We are now seeing the western cities erode the lead of big Asian centres in tower office rents. For premium floors with views, rents are rising in Hong Kong, but they are increasing much faster in New York. Similarly, London is closing the gap on Tokyo,” said Knight Frank's chief economist, James Roberts.

“Economic growth prospects for this year favour locations like New York and London, so I see these cities stepping up competition on the Asian centres. Many people like to say that the balance in the global economy is shifting from west to east, but certainly skyscraper rents provide another indicator that shows this is not entirely the case.”

Today, there are 79 skyscrapers in the world over 1,000 feet high – two fifths of them are in China and 28 per cent of them in the United Arab Emirates. Particularly impressive are Dubai, which has built almost 190 skyscrapers since 2000, and Shanghai, adding over 90.

“The expansion upwards in the major Chinese cities has been a remarkable phenomenon over the past decade,” said Knight Frank's head of research for Asia Pacific, Nicholas Holt.

“The fact that 40 per cent of skyscrapers in the world with heights over 1,000 feet are in China underlines the growing importance of the country’s economy on the world stage.”

Knight Frank's Skyscraper 2015 Report looks at prime office rents of 18 markets across the globe.