In terms of spending on the luxury items, Singapore emerged as the world’s most expensive city for a fourth consecutive year, even as prices on items such as watches and jewelry surge around the globe.
According to an annual report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group Ltd, following the Asian country, Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London. Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020. Hong Kong and London rounded out the top five.
Zurich witnessed spike in three places propelled by the strengthening of the Swiss franc, supported by the country’s reputation for stability and the currency’s role as “store of value” in unpredictable times, the wealth manager said.
The continuous holding of the top rank by Singapore was driven by high prices of residential property and cars. These two categories hold the heaviest weightings in the index, along with the strong Singapore dollar.
The report further highlighted that for the high-net-worth individuals, the cost of maintaining a premium standard of living has risen significantly over the past 12 months. This year’s index was up 10.2 per cent on average in US dollar terms.
The surge in gold prices is reflected in the index, with jewelry up 16.4 per cent and watches up 15.5 per cent, it added.
Further, Middle East’s crown Dubai dropped to 14th place in the ranking. Julius Baer said the decline reflects risings costs in other cities rather than the financial hub becoming more affordable.
Australia’s Sydney recorded the biggest jump in this year’s ranking, climbing six places to eighth. Julius Baer attributed this partly due to the strong Australian dollar.
No US cities in list:
Another interesting takeaway from the list was no mention of any city of United States (US). This has happened for the first time in the three years. No cities from the Americas featured in the top 10 list.
Julius Baer said this is largely due to the depreciation of the US dollar against other major currencies, despite strong local price increases. Even so, North America recorded strong wealth accumulation over the past year, with a “staggering” 47 per cent of high-net-worth-individuals reporting a significant increase in asset value.