Hong Kong ranks 4th globally in luxury lifestyle costs

The city remains Asia-Pacific’s second-most expensive market for high-net-worth individuals, behind Singapore.

Hong Kong remained one of the world’s most expensive cities for high-net-worth individuals, ranking 4th globally in Julius Baer’s Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2026.

The city slipped from 3rd place in 2025, after Monaco entered the top three. Still, Hong Kong remained the second-most expensive city in Asia-Pacific, behind Singapore, which retained the top global ranking.

Julius Baer’s Lifestyle Index tracks the cost of a basket of 20 luxury goods and services, including residential property, cars, private school fees, healthcare, watches, jewellery, and other discretionary purchases for high-net-worth individuals.

Globally, the cost of maintaining a premium standard of living rose 10.2% in US dollar terms over the past 12 months.

Julius Baer said currency movements played a major role in reshaping city rankings, as locations tied to stronger currencies climbed whilst cities more closely linked to the US dollar saw smaller relative increases.

Asia-Pacific remained strongly represented in the global top 10, with Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, and Bangkok included in the ranking.

The region also showed signs of a “two-track economy,” with growth in technology, wealth flows, and migration supporting cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Sydney.

Hong Kong’s role as a wealth hub also strengthened. Julius Baer cited Boston Consulting Group research showing that Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub.

The report said Hong Kong and Singapore have become the two central hubs of a growing Asian wealth network as high-net-worth individuals diversify assets across more jurisdictions.

The report also said capital seeking safe-haven markets is reinforcing gateway cities with reputations for governance and currency stability, including Hong Kong and Singapore, as wealth centres. Julius Baer expects Asia to remain the fastest-growing region in its economic projections, with GDP growth of 4.5% in 2026, above the global average of 2.9%.

Julius Baer said wealth accumulation in Asia-Pacific remains resilient, with 90% of high-net-worth individuals surveyed in the region reporting an increase in assets over the past 12 months.

Data collection for the index ended in late February 2026, whilst survey fieldwork ended in early March. Julius Baer noted that later developments in the Middle East were not reflected in the findings.