World

Johannesburg the cheapest city in the world for wealthy people

Johannesburg was ranked the cheapest among major world cities to maintain a high-net-worth lifestyle in the latest Julius Baer Lifestyle Index.

The city ranking is based on the Julius Baer Lifestyle Index, which analyses the cost of a basket of goods and services representative of “living well” in 25 cities worldwide.

Swiss private bank Julius Baer tracks the prices of 20 goods and services, including residential property, luxury goods, the cost to attain an MBA, high-end alcohol, and luxury hotels. 

This index, therefore, provides an overview of the relative cost of maintaining a high-net-worth lifestyle in various major urban centres.

According to the fourth edition of the Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report, the overall trend in the past year is that prices are rising, and the cost of living is increasing for consumers across the world. 

The average price of Julius Baer’s Lifestyle Index has increased by 6% in US dollars but by 13% in local currencies. 

“Broadly, this is due to persistently high rates of global inflation and the fact that raw materials, energy, fuel, and staffing have all become more expensive. Moreover, consumer demand, pent up over the pandemic, has increased dramatically,” said the report.

The greatest price increases overall were seen in high-demand, premium consumables such as wine and whiskey, luxury cars, and hospitality services. 

Hotel suites, business class flights, and fine dining experienced significant price increases as the demand for travel and entertainment surged over the past year. 

Green indicates the year-on-year price change in US dollars, and blue indicates the year-on-year price change in rands.

Johannesburg ranked 25th among all the cities included in the index, which included major cities like Singapore, Milan, London, Frankfurt, Dubai and New York.

Johannesburg also ranked cheapest in its region, grouped amongst Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) cities.

Most EMEA cities fell or stayed the same in 2023, with only Dubai rising. Johannesburg fell one position in the rankings.

Johannesburg’s prices fell year-on-year (in rands) for the following items in 2023: bicycles, ladies’ handbags, ladies’ shoes, men’s suits, residential property, treadmills, watches, degustation dinners, and MBAs.

Johannesburg was one of nine cities that shared first place for the most expensive MBAs. It also ranked in the top 10 for having expensive cars.

However, the city has the cheapest men’s suits, residential property and degustation dinners.

The items that saw the largest price increase year-on-year in Johannesburg were cars (25%), whiskey (19%), wine (16%) and hotel suites (19%).

Asia reaffirmed its dominance as a centre for wealth and lifestyle as the region ranked first as the costliest region to live well for the fourth year in a row.

Here are the overall rankings of the 25 cities included in the index in 2023:

City2023 ranking2022 ranking
Singapore15
Shanghai21
Hong Kong34
London42
New York511
Monaco66
Dubai714
Taipei83
Sao Paulo912
Miami1018
Bangkok1115
Jakarta1219
Paris1310
Zurich147
Tokyo158
Milan1613
Sydney179
Mumbai1824
Barcelona1916
Manila2021
Mexico City2122
Frankfurt2217
Santiago de Chile23NA
Vancouver2420
Johannesburg2523

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