Singapore tops the 2026 Julius Baer Lifestyle Index — again

Julius Baer's Lifestyle Index tracks the cost of a basket of 20 goods and services representative of a premium standard of living across 25 cities. In this edition, the overall cost of maintaining a premium standard of living rose by an average of 10.2% in US dollar terms — and much of that increase came from currency movements rather than local price inflation, with cities anchored to the Swiss franc and euro climbing the rankings.

Singapore retains the top position for the fourth year running, ahead of Zurich (second) and Monaco (third). Singapore's lead is driven by the high cost of residential property and cars — the two items carrying the heaviest weightings in the index — alongside the strength of the Singapore dollar; the city ranked first globally for cars and third for residential property. Five Asia-Pacific cities sit in the global top ten: Singapore, Hong Kong (fourth), Shanghai (sixth), Sydney (eighth) and Bangkok (tenth). Hong Kong was the most expensive city for legal services and Shanghai for fine dining, and APAC was the most expensive region for an MBA.

For the sector, the reading is less about cost than about competitiveness: the report frames the wealthy as having shifted focus from cost to value — cities offering stability, quality of life and a durable balance of income and expense. Julius Baer surveyed 360 high-net-worth individuals across five regions for this edition.

The report's broader finding is that this is not simply a story about things getting dearer, but about the global repricing of stable, well-connected cities. Currency movements, rather than local inflation, drove much of the shift — a distinction that matters to families holding assets across regions, and one that reinforces why the wealthy describe Singapore as a natural choice for what to hold and where to sit. For advisers and service providers, the practical read is unchanged: the global mobility of families remains high, the competition for that mobility is intensifying, and cities that combine stability with a strong currency continue to command both the lifestyle premium and the structuring work that comes with it.