HK drops to fourth most expensive city for luxury spending

Hong Kong has slipped one place to become the world's fourth most expensive city, while Singapore maintained its position as the world’s most expensive city for the fourth consecutive year, according to Julius Baer’s Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2026 released on Tuesday.

The Swiss bank’s Lifestyle Index tracks the price of a basket of 20 luxury goods and services, ranging from private school fees, healthcare, and residential property to watches, jewellery, and cars, across 25 cities globally. The data was gathered in two rounds between November 2025 and March 2026.

Hong Kong remained the most expensive city globally for legal services and also one of the most expensive cities for a Master of Business Administration Studies. The city’s home price remained the second-most expensive this year, the report said.

However, the price of champagne and jewellery in the city is the lowest among 25 markets.

The report mentioned that according to research by Boston Consulting Group, Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub.

As high-net-worth individuals increasingly diversify their assets across a broader geographical spread, Hong Kong and Singapore have become the two central hubs of a growing Asian wealth network, it added.

Meanwhile, Jen-Ai Chua, equity research analyst for Asia at Julius Baer, said that hi-tech artificial intelligence and semiconductor-driven growth, wealth flows, and migration are rejuvenating cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Sydney.

She added that Asia as a whole remains the fastest growing region on Julius Baer’s economic projections, with GDP growth of 4.5 percent in 2026 that is well above the global average of 2.9 percent.

In addition, Zurich climbed from fifth place in 2025 to become the second most expensive city, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time. Shanghai retained its sixth-place ranking, and Bangkok placed 10th.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓