Singapore Is Southeast Asian World's Most Expensive Country For The Super-rich-Hong Kong Is The Second

According to a report by Julius Baer, Singapore will be the most expensive city for the super-rich in 2024. This is due to sky-high property prices, extravagant car ownership costs, and expensive private medical care, among other factors.

The Swiss bank analysed the prices of 20 consumer goods and services bought and used by high-net-worth individuals across 25 cities to arrive at the rankings.

The "cost of living extremely well", which consists of cars, whiskey, jewellery and housing, has been on the rise in Singapore, the bank said in its Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report, adding that the city-state continues to attract the ultra-wealthy due to its economic and political stability. "The Singapore government works hard to make the country attractive to global business and wealthy people, and the currency remains strong. All this is mirrored in its continued status as the world's most expensive city", per the report.

Owning a car in Singapore is the most expensive globally, 2.5 times the average, soaring 15% from a year before in US dollar terms. The cost of private education rose by almost 14%, while the price of ladies' handbags and shoes increased by 10%. Prices of men's suits and watches rose by more than 5%. Singapore was followed by Hong Kong, which upstaged Shanghai to emerge as the second most expensive place to buy property. Prices for hotel suites rose to 22.9%, ladies' shoes rose by 12.7%, and ladies' handbags increased by 8.6%, seeing the most significant increases in the city.

London gained a spot this year to take the third position, partly due to the UK exiting a technical recession last month, the British pound strengthening in 2023, and continued economic adjustments from post-Brexit normalisations, the report said.

Some private school education in the city was the most expensive globally, with costs rising almost 14% from a year earlier. London Hotel suites and jewellery were the second most costly items across the 25 cities, with prices increasing by 38.3% and 17%, respectively.

List of the world's most expensive cities for high net worth individuals by Julius Baer.

• Singapore
• Hong Kong
• London
• Shanghai
• Monaco
• Zurich
• New York
• Paris
• Sao Paulo
• Milan

What about Tokoyo?

Though Asia Pacific's most significant financial hubs have snugged up the top two positions, Tokyo, once known as the poster child of an ultra-expensive city in the 1990s, plummeted eight spots to No. 23 this year. As per the report, the slide in the Japanese yen has made the city much less expensive. The currency weakened to 160 against the US Dollar in April for the first time since 1990 and has plunged 13.25% against the greenback since the start of the year, as the Refinitiv data showed.

"As trivial as it seems, we tend to forget that the costs of living look entirely different in the eyes of a stranger, especially if that person thinks in US dollars or Swiss francs instead of the local currency. Currency and context matter, "Christian Gattiker, head of research at Julius Baer, highlighted.

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