Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for affluent individuals for fourth year in a row

SINGAPORE: Singapore has remained the world’s most expensive city for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) for the fourth year in a row, according to the 2026 edition of the Julius Baer Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report.

The ranking is based on Julius Baer’s Lifestyle Index, which tracked the prices of 20 luxury goods and services—from private school fees, healthcare and residential property to watches, jewellery and cars—across 25 cities globally. Prices were gathered between November 2025 and March 2026, including taxes and ancillary fees, and converted into US dollars for comparison.

The report noted that Singapore retained its top spot partly due to high residential property and car prices—the categories with the heaviest weightings in the index—along with the city-state’s strong Singapore dollar. Residential property was weighted at 20%, cars at 10%, with the rest distributed evenly across the remaining categories.

Just like last year, Singapore remains the most expensive city to buy a car and the third most expensive for residential property. However, unlike last year when Singapore ranked third for having the most expensive healthcare, it fell to 23rd this year.

The Little Red Dot also ranked as the most expensive city for getting an MBA, alongside Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo.

Julius Baer’s equities research Asia analyst Jen-Ai Chua said artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor-driven growth, wealth flows and migration are driving growth in cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney, while change has been more gradual in cities reliant on traditional legacy industries, commodities and consumption.

Still, she added that regardless of the pace, “Asia as a whole remains the fastest-growing region on Julius Baer’s economic projections,” with GDP growth of 4.5% for this year, well above the global average of 2.9%.

Other cities ranked among the top 10 most expensive for the affluent include Zurich(2), Monaco(3), Hong Kong(4), London(5), Shanghai(6), Paris(7), Sydney(8), Milan(9) and Bangkok(10). /TISG

Read also: Average wealth per adult in Singapore now exceeds S$680,000, according to UBS