<\/p>\n
Singapore is the world\u2019s most expensive city for luxury spending for a fourth consecutive year, as prices on items such as watches and jewellery surge around the globe.<\/p>\n
Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020, according to an annual report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group Ltd. Hong Kong and London rounded out the top five.<\/p>\n
Zurich\u2019s three-place rise was propelled by the strengthening of the Swiss franc, supported by the country\u2019s reputation for stability and the currency\u2019s role as \u201cstore of value\u201d in unpredictable times, the wealth manager said. Singapore\u2019s long-held top rank is driven by high prices of residential property and cars \u2014 the two categories with the heaviest weightings in the index \u2014 along with the strong Singapore dollar, it added. The index compares prices on a US dollar basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is clear in 2026 is that the world continues to be a complicated place, and uncertainty remains at a very high level,\u201d Christian Gattiker, head of research at Julius Baer, said in the report. \u201cIn this environment, stable cities and countries become even more attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bank\u2019s Lifestyle Index ranks 25 cities by analysing the price inflation of 20 luxury items and services such as residential property, cars, business class flights, school fees and degustation dinners. The survey interviewed 360 high-net-worth individuals with bankable household assets of US$1 million (RM4.08 million) or more from February to March 2026.<\/p>\n
For high-net-worth individuals, the cost of maintaining a premium standard of living has risen \u201csignificantly\u201d over the past 12 months, with this year\u2019s index up 10.2% on average in US dollar terms, the report said. The surge in gold prices is reflected in the index, with jewellery up 16.4% and watches up 15.5%.<\/p>\n
Dubai dropped to 14th place in the ranking, although Julius Baer said the decline reflects risings costs in other cities rather than the financial hub becoming more affordable. The Swiss bank also noted that \u201cmuch has changed\u201d in the Middle East in the months since the index data was collected, which was before the Iran conflict. As a result, the outlook for residents and internationally mobile individuals and families \u201cis now less clear\u201d, it said.<\/p>\n
Sydney recorded the biggest jump in this year\u2019s ranking, climbing six places to eighth. Julius Baer attributed this partly due to the strong Australian dollar, and the country\u2019s \u201cgeographical isolation\u201d \u2014 with the price of importing premium goods elevating Sydney significantly in the list, the bank said.<\/p>\n
For the first time in three years, no cities from the Americas featured in the top 10 list. 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 \u201cstaggering\u201d 47% of high-net-worth individuals reporting a significant increase in asset value.<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Singapore is the world\u2019s most expensive city for luxury spending for a fourth consecutive year, as prices on items such as watches and jewellery surge around the globe. Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020, according to an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bez-rubriki"],"featured_image_src":{"landsacpe":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Singapore-28-1140x445.jpg",1140,445,true],"list":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Singapore-28-463x348.jpg",463,348,true],"medium":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Singapore-28-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"full":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Singapore-28.jpg",2560,1703,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6347,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345\/revisions\/6347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}