Prague takes the lead in Europe for physical office occupancy growth

According to Savills latest research, Prague has recorded the largest increase in physical occupancy rates, rising by 16 percentage points to 54 percent between June 2022 and February 2023, Tuesday being the peak day in office attendance, followed by Dublin, which recorded a 15 percentage point increase to 56 percent. Prague ranks among the top 5 European capitals in terms of employees’ return to the office.

Lenka Pechová, Senior Research Analyst at Savills CZ&SK, says: “Although being slightly lower overall, physical occupancy data collected from several office buildings in Prague revealed that the daily pattern is somewhat different compared to the European average. In Prague, occupancy rates on Mondays (56 percent) were the second highest in the week. Fridays remain quieter (49 percent), which can also be observed by traffic levels, however, the drop was not as dramatic as seen in the rest of Europe.”

Mike Barnes, Associate Director, European Research at Savills, says: “Analysing European office occupancy on a daily basis, Tuesday (63 percent), Wednesday (62 percent) and Thursday (62 percent) are the busiest days which share similar levels of attendance.”

Pavel Novák, Head of Office Agency at Savills CZ&SK, comments: “The intensity of office use is naturally increasing, but it is clear that we are far from pre-pandemic levels and it is not clear whether we will get there. This naturally plays into the hands of serviced office operators who are offering offices more on an actual usage basis.”

In February 2023, London West End (50 percent), London City (48 percent) and Warsaw (46 percent) recorded the lowest office occupancy level, but still demonstrated a significant increase compared to last summer. Paris CBD (66 percent), Madrid (65 percent) and Stockholm (60 percent) lead the ‘return to the office’ in Europe where February´s occupancy figures are close to the pre-pandemic European average of 70 percent.