Out of office, for three years

Visual form

Two-panel bar chart around a zero baseline.

Layout / body structure

The chart is split into a US panel on the left and a UK panel on the right, both using the same vertical scale. Reader moves left to right across countries and then year by year within each panel.

What is being compared

It compares office-space net absorption over time in the United States and the United Kingdom, showing when each market was adding leased space and when it was moving into negative territory.

Measurement system

The measure is office-space net absorption in millions of square feet. Positive bars extend above zero to show leased absorption, and negative bars fall below zero to show the reversal into unleased or net-vacated space.

Visible structure inside the graphic

Each country panel uses annual vertical bars on a shared axis, with the zero line dividing positive and negative years. The US panel has much larger bars and deeper swings, while the UK panel stays tighter around the midpoint with smaller peaks and shallower declines.

Main takeaway from the visual

Both markets flip from positive absorption into negative territory after the pandemic period, but the US chart does it at a much larger scale, which makes the pressure on office owners far more visually dramatic in the left panel.

Key standout values or extremes

In the US panel, positive absorption peaks around 90 million square feet in the mid-2010s before falling to roughly negative 70 million in 2021. The UK panel peaks only in the teens and then slips slightly below zero by the end of the series.

Controls / sequence, when applicable

This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.

Companion media, when applicable

There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.