India tops global flexible office maturity index: C&W

New Delhi: India's co-working space market has topped globally in maturity index, beating the UK, France, US, Japan and Singapore markets, on the back of various factors, including rising demand for flexible and managed office spaces, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

On Friday, real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) released a report titled 'Global Trends in Flexible Office 2025'. "Flexible office space as a component of overall office space varies in maturity across global markets. Some mature office markets do not have a significant presence of flexible office space, while some emerging office markets have developed a strong presence of flexible office providers," the report said.

The consultant noted that India has stood out for the strength and maturity of its flexible workspace market. "Scoring a perfect 100 on Cushman & Wakefield's maturity index, India has outpaced its global peers with well-established office markets, including the United Kingdom at 98 per cent, France at 97 per cent, the United States at 81 per cent, and both Japan and Singapore at 77 per cent," C&W said. The maturity score has been calculated by a comprehensive assessment of key metrics, including flexible inventory as a percentage of total office space, the number of flexible providers present in the market, leasing activity of flexible providers, and the presence of emerging flexible agreement structures.

At present, India is the largest flexible office market in APAC, with 79.7 million sq ft of stock across the top eight cities as of June 2025.

The total portfolio of co-working operators is expected to reach around 85 million sq ft by December this year and surpass 100 million sq ft by 2026. Ramita Arora, Managing Director Bengaluru and Head - Flex, India, Cushman & Wakefield, said, "India's flexible office sector is widely recognised as a global pacesetter.