- Singapore is the most expensive city for living in luxury, per a report by the Julius Baer Group.
- Rent, house prices, school fees, taxes on cars, and living expenses are all high in the city-state.
- Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, and New York completed the top five.
Singapore is the most expensive city for an upper-class lifestyle, according to a new report by the Julius Baer Group.
The Swiss private bank released its 2023 Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report on Tuesday.
Singapore pushed Shanghai off the podium, marking the first time the Asian city-state topped the ranking. It came in fifth place last year and ninth in 2021.
Julius Baer analysts wrote that Singapore’s government had succeeded in their attempts to make it an attractive place for high net-worth individuals to live and work but that this had also pushed prices up.
In particular, the city-state, which has a population slightly over 5.5 million, has high rent, house prices, school fees, taxes on cars, and general living expenses, the analysts wrote. Essential health insurance is more than double the global average, they added.
According to a cost-of-living calculator on a Singapore government website, a room in a condominium outside the city-state’s central region generally costs between 1,300 and 2,350 Singaporean dollars a month ($970 to $1,750).
Renting a private condominium costs between 3,800 and 5,750 Singaporean dollars a month on average ($2,830 to $4,285.)
“Long considered liveable, stable, and cosmopolitan, Singapore is now vying to become a leading global centre for the wealthy,” the Julius Baer analysts wrote, adding that it has a bustling airport and one of the world’s highest GDPs per capita.
By the end of 2022, Singapore had an estimated 1,500 family offices – twice the number of the previous year.
Here is Julius Baer’s ranking of the 10 most expensive cities for “living well”:
- Singapore
- Shanghai
- Hong Kong
- London
- New York
- Monaco
- Dubai
- Taipei
- São Paulo
- Miami
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