Nearly everywhere in the world, industrial occupation slipped during 2008. Simultaneously, global rental growth declined to 2.4%, down from 6.1% in 2007.

In Central and Eastern Europe annual rental growth was at 6.7% at the end of 2008, staying basically consistent with 2007's numbers. C&W executives say the Polish and Ukrainian markets were highly active this year, with Poland's rents increasing by 28% in 2008. In Kiev, Ukraine rents grew by 25%.

"The CEE region has been outperforming its old European neighbors for the last decade, in terms of both growth in construction and take up of industrial space. The shift of production and distribution from the West to the East has been the main driver over recent years," says Ferdinand Hlobil, head of industrial for C&W CEE. "This is expected to continue, primarily due to the fact that about 40% of the European population is located in Central and Eastern Europe. The large potential consumer market in CEE is still very much under-developed, and even when taking into account the present global crisis, we expect the growth of the industrial market to continue in the medium term."

On the whole South America experienced rental growth of 12.4%. Brazil's Rio de Janeiro recorded the highest rental growth in the world at 46% during 2008. The strength of South America's industrial market helped to offset the declines in both the US and Canada.

"Brazil performed well in the industrial and warehouses market because of an improving domestic economy over the year," says Mário Sérgio S. Gurgueira, C&W Brazil. "This has seen consumer demand rise and has consequently resulted in more sales, more warehousing and more transportation. The outlook for the market indicates lower demand but there is still evidence of schemes going ahead at the moment, because demand for high quality buildings is still evident."