Prague's Pařížská joins Champs Elysees and Fifth Avenue among world's priciest streets

Prague's grand Pařížská street, known for housing brands like Prada and Tiffany in tony Art Noveau buildings, has always been synonymous with luxury shopping. And yet in the past decade, Pařížská has ranked below the Czech capital's Na Příkopě high street among the most expensive streets in the Czech Republic and the entire Central European region.

The tables have now turned, as the first retail-street ranking since the Covid years shows. Pařížská street has overtaken its Old Town rival according to the newly released Main Streets Across the World ranking, with its global ranking up one spot to the 17th most expensive street worldwide.

In terms of regional performance, Czechia claims two entries, with Pařížská street ranking 30th and Na Příkopě coming in at 33rd in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Real estate consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield compiles the ranking according to rental prices across 47 countries worldwide. The highest rent on Pařížská street in the third quarter of this year was EUR 2,719 per square meter per year (EUR 227 per square meter per month). For Na Příkopě it was EUR 2,460 per square meter per year.

Economist Lukáš Kovanda told the Czech media that Pařížská fared better than Na Příkopě, where rents fell by around 13 percent, during the Covid crisis, and that this has led to its being dethroned. The list also ranks Pařížská as the most expensive in the entire Central European region for the first time. The Czech Republic is the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to make it into the top 20 this year.

New York’s Fifth Avenue ranks as the most expensive retail destination in the world, followed by Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong and Milan’s Via Montenapoleone. 

In 2019, Jan Kotrbáček, Partner & Head of CEE Retail Agency Team, Cushman & Wakefield said that Prague remains one of the most attractive destinations in both the European and global context due to its compact high street destination around Wenceslas Square, Na Příkopě and Pařížská.

“In addition, the local retail market is relatively young compared with western countries, since good quality retail on an international scale has been built here only during the last 30 years since the fall of the communist regime. This is why it still has great potential for further improvement,” Kotrbáček added.

The study indicates that while the EU region saw a 4.1 percent jump in retail sales volume post-Covid, Europe will remain challenged by the war in Ukraine and increasing levels of inflation. More so than most of the rest of the world, these challenges—combined with supply-side issues—have impacted consumer confidence and retailers at a time when life was getting back to something that could be described as normal.

Pařížská, near Prague's Jewish Quarter, a stone's throw from the Vltava River, is also home to Chanel, Dior, Cartier, and Breitling stores.