Zurich Rises as Currency Rewrites Julius Baer’s Luxury Map

Zurich is the second most expensive city for high-net-worth living on Julius Baer’s 2026 Lifestyle Index, two years after an eight-place jump. Singapore still ranks first, for a fourth straight year. For the first time in three years, no American city made the top ten.

The shuffle started in the 2024 Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report. That edition already showed that a strong franc and a weak yen could move a city more than a hotel suite.

The 2024 Ranking Turned on Exchange Rates

Julius Baer published the 2024 report in Zurich on 25 June 2024. The Swiss private bank prices a basket of 20 goods and services in 25 cities, then converts the totals into US dollars so the cities can be compared. Average prices slowed to 4% in dollar terms, after a 6% rise in 2023.

The euro was up 4% against the dollar. The Swiss franc was up 8%. Every European city in the index moved up. London rose from fourth to third, ahead of Shanghai. Milan climbed six places to tenth. Paris climbed five places to eighth. EMEA, the cheapest region a year earlier, became the most expensive.

Tokyo went the other way. It dropped from 15th to 23rd, the weakest showing in Asia Pacific, as the yen cheapened the same basket in dollar terms. Local prices in Tokyo had barely moved. The conversion did the damage. Bangkok fell from 11th to 17th. Jakarta fell from 12th to 14th. Asia Pacific still held the two costliest cities, Singapore and Hong Kong, but lost the regional crown it had held for four years.

This year’s report shows that currencies matter a lot. Take Tokyo as an example. This used to be the posterchild of an ultra-expensive city in the 1990s. However, the steady decline of the yen has shown how this can change.

Christian Gattiker, Head of Research, Julius Baer

Gattiker closed the same briefing with a shorter line: “Currency and context matter.” The 2026 report would read like a sequel.

Zurich Climbed From Sixth to Second

Zurich was the biggest climber in 2024, up eight places to sixth. It ticked to fifth in the 14 July 2025 edition. On 7 July 2026, Julius Baer put it as the second most expensive city in the Index, a three-place rise driven less by local tickets than by the franc against the dollar.

In Swiss francs, no single index category in Zurich rose more than 8%. Residents absorbed a milder bill than the global ranking implies. Visitors and anyone who thinks in dollars did not. Monaco entered the top three for the first time, helped by the euro and by residential property that already sat at the top of the basket. Paris, Milan and Frankfurt also climbed. Barcelona stayed put.

London is the European exception. It had reached second in 2025, a place it last held in 2022, even as the UK abolished non-domiciled residency status and changed inheritance tax. That second-place finish already looked optimistic next to those tax shifts. In 2026 the pound followed a path closer to the dollar, and London dropped to fifth.

No American City Made the 2026 Top Ten

New York was fifth in 2023, seventh in 2024 and eighth in 2025. In 2026 it is 11th, the highest city in the Americas and still outside the global ten. São Paulo, ninth in 2024, is 12th after a 16th-place dip in 2025. Miami, tenth in 2023, is 19th.

The gap is not that New York got cheap. Hotel suites in the Americas jumped by almost 34% in the 2024 index, led by New York, while the same item in Asia Pacific fell by almost 11%. The dollar bloc simply stopped outrunning cities tied to the franc, the euro and the Singapore dollar. Dubai, whose dirham is pegged to the dollar, slipped to 14th after a seventh-place peak in 2025. Other cities got dearer around it.

CITY RANKS, 2024 TO 2026

Tokyo’s rebound stopped at 17th. It gained six places in 2025 and then went nowhere. The 2024 yen shock still sits in the ranking.

Singapore Still Collects the Highest Bill

Singapore has now led the index for four straight years, through the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 editions. Julius Baer points to residential property, cars and a strong Singapore dollar. Local price changes have been quiet. In 2025 the basket rose 0.2% in local currency, even as private school fees jumped 12.1%, hotel suites 10.3% and business-class flights 17%.

Hong Kong is the slow leak beside it. Second in 2024, it fell one spot to third in 2025 and then to fourth in 2026. The bank still calls the city a family-office draw, with tax rules and a door into mainland China. The ranking no longer treats it as Singapore’s peer at the top.

Asia Pacific put five cities in the 2026 top ten: Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Bangkok. Sydney was the year’s biggest climber, up six places to eighth, on a firmer Australian dollar and the cost of bringing in premium goods. Bangkok completed a climb from 17th in 2024. Stability, the bank argues, now carries a premium, and Singapore sells that as much as it sells a suite.

What the Julius Baer Lifestyle Index Prices

The index is not a grocery survey. It tracks what Julius Baer treats as a high-net-worth life, for people with bankable household assets of USD 1 million or more, across 25 cities that already function as wealth hubs. Los Angeles never appears, because it is not on the list.

THE 20-ITEM BASKET

• Eleven goods: bicycle, car, champagne, jewellery, men’s suit, residential property, technology package, treadmill, watch, women’s handbag, women’s shoes.
• Nine services: business-class flight, degustation dinner, healthcare, hotel suite, Lasik, lawyer, MBA, private school, spa.
• Dollar yardstick: local prices are converted to US dollars on a fixed date, so a quiet year in francs or yen can still look loud in the table.

That method is why Zurich can rise while its own shops barely move, and why Tokyo can fall while a resident paying in yen feels little change. Affordable for locals and cheap for a dollar account are different tests, and the index runs the second one.

Jewellery and Watches Tracked Gold Higher

Currency is the ranking engine. It is not the only price story. Julius Baer says gold has more than doubled since 2024, and that increase has moved through jewellery and watches. Luxury houses based in Europe also set prices in the euro or the franc, so a stronger home currency exports a higher tag.

THE 2026 DOLLAR BILL

• Global basket: maintaining the premium standard of living rose 10.2% in US dollars over the year covered by the 2026 index.
• European cities: prices rose 14.1% in dollar terms, above the global average, largely on the euro and the franc.
• Asia Pacific: prices rose 7.4% in dollar terms, below the global average, even with five cities in the top ten.
• Luxury goods: the category rose 12.3% on average, with jewellery up 16.4% and watches up 15.5%.

Goods outpaced services in 2026, reversing a stretch when services had led. Index data collection ended in late February 2026, and the survey field work ended in early March, so the Iran conflict is not in the figures. Julius Baer said the wider trends still hold and in some cases will have been amplified.

Wealthy Buyers Started Shopping Across Borders

The 2024 survey already found at least 70% of respondents had seen their assets rise over the prior 12 months, with the strongest gains in North America, the Middle East and Latin America. Health spending sat in the top five intended outlays in every region. In Asia Pacific, 63% said discretionary health spending had risen, against 37% in Europe and North America. Sustainability showed up in portfolios in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America, and much less in the shopping bag.

By 2026 that split had hardened into two luxury speeds. Spending in Asia Pacific and the Middle East ran ahead of Europe, North America and Latin America, and Europe showed the sharpest pullback. Experiential spending still led everywhere, especially hotels and dining. Health and leisure travel were the only two categories up in every region.

HOW THE 2026 SURVEY MOVED

• Geopolitics: between 82% and 95% of respondents in every region said they were concerned or very concerned.
• Shopping routes: at least one in three had already changed the geographic origin of some luxury purchases.
• Tariff trips: more than half would consider travelling to buy luxury goods and skip tariffs, and around a quarter already do.
• APAC portfolios: 73% increased diversification, including 53% adding more precious metals and 46% widening their geographic spread.

Gattiker, still head of research, said currency is again at the forefront, and that the mix of currencies, assets and behaviour is what the figures now describe. Singapore still posts the highest bill. Zurich stands next to it because the franc does. New York does not.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does the Julius Baer Lifestyle Index Measure?

It has tracked the dollar cost of a high-end life in 25 cities since 2020, using the same 20-item basket of discretionary goods and services. Julius Baer also runs a separate Lifestyle Survey of wealthy clients; the 2026 survey interviewed 360 people with bankable household assets of USD 1 million or more across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, North America and Latin America.

Which City Ranked First in the 2024 Report?

Singapore held first place for a second straight year in 2024, with Hong Kong second and London third. Shanghai, which had led the index in 2021 and 2022, was already down to fourth. Sydney and Hong Kong were the only Asia Pacific cities to rise that year, with Sydney jumping six places to 11th.

Why Did Tokyo Fall in the 2024 Ranking?

The yen’s slide against the dollar, not a collapse in local menus, sent Tokyo from 15th to 23rd. Julius Baer noted that costs in local currency had barely changed, and that the dollar conversion produced the swing. Tokyo recovered six places to 17th in 2025 and stayed 17th in 2026.

Which Cities Topped the 2026 Julius Baer Index?

Singapore remained first, Zurich rose to second and Monaco entered the top three for the first time, followed by Hong Kong and London. The 2026 report was released on 7 July 2026, with index prices collected through late February and survey field work finished in early March, before the Iran conflict.

How Did Health Spending Show Up in the Surveys?

Health sat among the top five spending intentions in every region in 2024, and in 2026 it was one of only two categories, with leisure travel, to rise everywhere. In the 2025 survey, between 87% of North American respondents and 100% of Asia Pacific respondents said they were already taking steps to live longer, from ordinary health habits to treatments such as gene therapy.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting and analysis of Julius Baer’s published wealth and lifestyle research. It is for information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or relocation advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy or sell any asset, currency or property. Readers should consult a qualified wealth manager, tax adviser or licensed financial planner before changing where they live, spend or invest. Rankings, percentages and survey results reflect Julius Baer’s 2024, 2025 and 2026 reports as published and may change in later editions.