Global Parking and Storage Statistics [Updated 2021]

Globally, the need for ample storage and parking spaces in our society is continuously growing. We can attribute this growth to the increasing accumulation of goods and items by households, as well as the increased need to travel for those living in limited public transport areas. A greater need for more space has led to the increased costs of parking prices as well as costs of storage spaces. We explore how storage parking changes have changed throughout the past couple of years and the impact this will have on upcoming years.

Current Global Parking and Storage Trends

Economically, the prices of parking and storage spaces around the world have increased significantly. This is due to a high demand and need for these spaces. As a society, we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago. This high consumption of goods has had a significant impact to the increasing need for more space.  

• Brisbane is the most expensive city in Australia for short-term parking. (Canstar).
• A premium secure car space in Sydney’s CBD sold for $495,000. (Canstar)
• 8.96% of US households currently rent a self-storage unit. (Simplyss).
• With the self-storage industry continuing to grow, more solutions for storage businesses have arisen that offer comprehensive facility management software and services. Businesses like 6Storage help self-storage owners manage multiple locations and automate day-to-day operations.
• The increased growth in e-commerce means that there is now more demand from online retailers to rent storage space to many inventories on short leases in convenient locations. (The Guardian).
• The warehousing and storage services market is expecting to see a 10% growth rate between 2020 to 2025. (Globe News Wire).

Biggest Parking and Storage Spaces Around the World

Space isn’t infinite, but the demand for greater car and storage spaces continue to grow. Around the world, mass spaces are being created to accommodate for these parking and storage needs.  

• The largest parking lot in the world is in Edmonton, Canada, accommodating for 20,000 vehicles. (World Atlas).
• Coming in second, Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport can hold up to 13,000 vehicles. (World Atlas).
• The city of Des Moines in the US has 18 times as many parking spaces per hectare as households. (The Conversation).
• The estimated total amount of parking spots in the US is roughly around 2 million. (B2 Parking).
• The largest public storage facility in the world has over 142 million square feet of rentable space over the Unites States and Europe. (Public Storage).
• There around 45,000-52,000 storage units in the US. (Sparefoot).

Parking and Storage Prices: Which Cities Pay the Most

Parking and storage spaces prices have largely continued to rise in recent years, with valuable car parking spaces exceeding $100 per day in prime areas. The area that suffers the most extreme parking prices are city centres. However, these huge city costs are slowly expanding across to airports, local shopping centres and commercial areas that were once free of charge.

• In Jackson, Wyoming, US, the estimated cost of parking for each household as $192,138. (Fast Company).
• British drivers spend a total of $23.3 billion pounds across the country per year, on parking. (Inrix).
• The world’s highest short-term parking rate is found in New York City, charging on average, $32.97 per hour. (Auto Guide).
• Sydney ranks second for the highest short-term parking rates, at $23.45. (Auto Guide).
• Tokyo ranks number 1 as the most expensive city to rent a storage unit, costing around $280 USD per month. (Storedge).
• New York is the most expensive city for storage rental in the US and not far behind Tokyo. Queens, NY had the highest price for a 10×20 climate-controlled storage unit, costing an average of $691 USD a month.

Why Is There A Need for More Parking and Storage?

In many cities around the world, car parking can take up as much as half of the ground space of central areas. Parking and storage spaces are sought after more than more due to travel, limited public transport and a need to store goods and items.

• 65% of Americans who rent a self-storage unit have a garage at their home. (Medium)
• In Europe, Japan and in US cities, such as New York and Boston, multi-storey car spaces are the preferred option. (BBC).
• On average, drivers spend an average of 17 hours a year searching for parking spots. (USA Today).
• A parking space can be up to $80 per day in Australia. (Canstar)

Predictions

As the need for more parking and storage spaces continue to grow, trends in 2022 and the future explore possible new trends and solutions to combat this issue.  

• The parking zeitgeist of the 2020s will be predominantly customer-focused as consumer habits and preferences trend towards the convenient. (Keith Jones).
• The global smart parking market is expected to grow to $43 billion by 2025. (Statista).
• It is predicted that average parking times will drop to 5 minutes to meet consumer demands. (Keith Jones)
• There is an increased demand for cycling, meaning that cycle parking will become a prominent part of the parking sector. (British Parking).