Julius Baer Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2025 APAC Key Highlights

Malay Mail

14-07-2025

Singapore (ranked #1 globally): Singapore continues to top the index as the costliest city for living well for the third consecutive year. Despite this, the city remains highly liveable, appealing to high-net-worth individuals and businesses due to its stable political climate, safety, and quality services, including education and healthcare. Overall, Singapore's stability and connectivity continue to make it a leading choice for relocation and residency. Lifestyle index[1]: Singapore is ranked the most expensive for categories of car and women's handbag, second for women's shoes and third for residential property and healthcare. It is amongst the least expensive for a treadmill (ranked 21 st ).
Hong Kong (ranked #3 globally): Hong Kong remains one of the most expensive cities to live well. Its low taxes and cosmopolitan appeal continue to attract wealthy individuals, bolstered by a residency-by-investment programme that has drawn significant interest from both mainland Chinese and global HNWIs. Lifestyle index: Hong Kong is ranked the most expensive for a lawyer, and second most expensive for car and residential property, and third for degustation dinner. While Singapore saw hotel suites rise 10 per cent this year, Hong Kong saw a 26 per cent fall in prices.
Shanghai (ranked #6 globally): Lifestyle index: Shanghai remains the second most expensive city for watches, the third most expensive city for women's shoes, and while it is the most expensive city to have a degustation dinner, it is interestingly the second cheapest for Champagne, after Hong Kong.
Bangkok (ranked #11 globally): Bangkok made one of the biggest jumps this year, going up 6 places. While relatively affordable for many services in the index, Bangkok is one of the priciest global cities for luxury goods such as ladies' and men's fashions, as well as cars and watches. Lifestyle index: Bangkok is ranked most expensive for women's shoes, and third for cars.
Mumbai (ranked #20 globally): Despite India's position as a rising economic powerhouse, Mumbai is relatively affordable for most services, particularly hospitality and travel. Lifestyle index: Interestingly, it is jointly ranked most expensive for treadmill, but cheapest across the board for LASIK.
[1] Refer to Appendix from page 54 onwards for more details on rankings, and details on price changes on Lifestyle Index items for each city.
HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 14 July 2025 - The sixth edition of theconfirms the ongoing shift from material consumption towards experiences., commented: "."Asia Pacific (APAC) continues to be an expensive place to live well in general, as its developing cities continue their upward economic trajectory. The region saw only slight price decreases of 1 per cent on average across the region, making it the most stable of all the surveyed regions this year.Once again, two of the world's three most expensive cities can be found in the Asia Pacific region, whereranks 1(unchanged) andranks 3(from 2).andmade the largest leaps, each climbing six places to 11and 17respectively. Conversely,dropped from fourth to sixth, andfell to 23despite a 7.5 per cent rise in average local currency prices.In APAC, spending on goods remains high, though consumer preferences continue to evolve. The growing wealth of APAC's HNW population, combined with increased interest in health, wellness, and experiences, continues to shape spending patterns across the region.HNWIs in APAC have tended to increase both spending and investing (39 per cent), with the highest overall total increase in those investing at 68 per cent.Most HNWIs from APAC have increased the diversity of assets in their portfolio and a consistent proportion has increased the level of risk. Investors in these regions also tend to be more interested in investing in future trends or in line with their values. Equities remain the preferred asset class in APAC, followed by real estate and cash. Despite notable 'ESG fatigue' in other regions, there has been a growing commitment to sustainable investing in APAC.HNWIs in APAC have seen some of the biggest jumps in cost for lifestyle spending habits, outpacing all regions in high-end women's clothes, hotels, fine dining, asThere was one category this year where prices increased more sharply than any other - across almost all cities and in APAC, business class flights rose 12.6 per cent and the region also saw a marked increase in leisure travel compared to business travel.In line with global trends, longevity is now top of mind for many HNWIs in APAC. In the region,, ranging from lifestyle changes such as regular exercise and a good diet to more extreme measures such as gene therapy and cryogenic chambers being used by 21 per cent of respondents in APAC. Unlike other regions, those in APAC said that their attitudes are overwhelmingly concerned with health, even as other regions reported more interest in dining experiences and human interaction.When it comes to financial longevity, the majority of HNWIs say the will adjust their wealth strategy to cover an increase in lifespan, with measures ranging from reviewing their existing wealth structure and rebalancing their portfolios to re-evaluating retirement goals. Respondents in APAC were much more likely to create a long-term care plan, with 68 per cent positively checking this option.While old economy businesses will be a mainstay of wealth in Asia, entrepreneurship opportunities facilitated by the emergence of newer technologies are changing the profile of the Asian HNWI.will accelerate the shift towards new preferences in lifestyle and spending choices, such as a growing focus on sustainability, increased digitalisation and a bias towards experiences.As wealth continues to shift in Asia Pacific, these trends will influence global luxury markets, real estate, and investment strategies in the years ahead.To download the Julius Baer Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2025, please visit: www.juliusbaer.com/GWLR (the report will be available after 3 p.m. Hong Kong Time)Hashtag: #JuliusBaer
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