The cost of luxury living has dropped 1.68% in USD terms in 2016 in Asia, with Shanghai retaining its top position as the most expensive city, according to Julius Baer’s latest Asia wealth report.
For 2016, Asia portrayed a mixed picture where 13 luxury items including watches, ladies’ shoes, travel costs and men’s suits recorded gains and eight items including wine and jewellery posted average single digit drops.
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The study, that tracked price movements of 21 luxury items in 11 cities of Asia from June 2015 to June 2016, ranked Singapore and Hong Kong as the second and third most expensive city respectively.
Among the cities under coverage, Shanghai took the top spot for having the most individual items in the index that were the most expensive. The city was ranked as the most expensive for hospital stay, watch, botox, cigars and high-end skin cream.
Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong in ranking as the latter faces a slowdown in tourist spending.
Hong Kong however, maintained its pole position for luxury real estate, with high-end property about five times as costly as the regional average. Manila was ranked as the least expensive city.
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By GlobalDataMeanwhile, Tokyo moved up the ranking ladder from seventh to fourth place due to the strengthening Japanese yen, while Bangkok dropped from fifth to seventh. Mumbai was ranked as the most competitive city.
Julius Baer CEO Boris Collardi said: “This year’s Lifestyle Index demonstrates that there remains enormous demand for luxury goods and services in Asia, but it equally signals that asset price fluctuations can be a potential drag on spending.”
