The life of a millionaire is expensive and as with all things these days, it's getting more expensive
Luxury real estate, expensive cars, business class plane tickets, degustation dinners and tuition at highly prestigious business schools. The life of a millionaire is expensive and as with all things these days, it's getting more expensive. But Julius Baer research has found that luxury living is nowhere near as expensive as Singapore.
Singapore has topped the rankings as the world's most expensive city for luxury living for the first time, as it claims to become a leading global center for the wealthy.
The city-state, ranked fifth in 2022, overtook Shanghai and Hong Kong, which are in second and third place respectively, according to a report by of Swiss investment company Julius Baer.
Singapore was one of the first places in Asia to reopen its borders during the pandemic, with the price hike locals are now facing a result of the city's appeal to high-income earners. By the end of 2022, Singapore had about 1,500 family offices (offices that aim to manage and invest the wealth of a wealthy family), doubling from the previous year.
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Singapore is also the most expensive city in the world to own a car. “High living standards and increased demands on local infrastructure mean that living here does not come cheap,” the Julius Baer report said, according to Bloomberg. “Residential property is in extremely high demand, cars are heavily taxed and basic health insurance is 133% and 109% more expensive than the global average respectively.”
According to the Julius Baer Lifestyle Index, which ranks the world's 25 most expensive cities for luxury living, Asia remained the most expensive region for the wealthy for the fourth consecutive year.
New York has also become significantly more expensive, rising to fifth from 11th place on the list last year, due to the strengthening of the dollar and the recovery from the pandemic.
London dropped to fourth place from second. Brexit and the turmoil that followed continue to damage the UK's reputation, with London now facing strong competition from growing financial centers such as Dubai and Singapore, notes Julius Baer.
For the first time For the first time since the launch of the report, the EMEA region has become more accessible to those looking to live the good life, with European cities falling in the ranking.
Dubai entered the top 10 for the first time, becoming the seventh most expensive city, with Zurich falling to 14th place.
The survey found growing demand for travel and entertainment as pandemic restrictions are lifted and freedom returns. The cost of luxury items such as wine (Julius Baer uses a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild 2018 vintage to measure it) and whiskey rose globally by 17.2% and 16.2% respectively.
Prices for hotel suites and business class flights are also higher. But there were some exceptions. Bicycle prices, which have become very expensive during the pandemic, fell by 1.8%.
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