Shanghai has the world’s most expensive tasting menus, Julius Baer says

A tasting menu costs more in Shanghai than in any other city tracked by Julius Baer, while Santiago, Chile, is the most expensive place in the survey for a glass of Champagne, according to the private bank’s “Global Wealth & Lifestyle Report 2026.”

The annual report from the Swiss wealth management group compares the cost of luxury goods and services in 25 major cities. Its basket covers 20 categories, including residential real estate, cars, jewelry, fashion, travel, wine and fine dining, and is designed to reflect the spending patterns of high-net-worth individuals, defined in the report as people with net assets of more than $1 million.

In the report’s overall ranking of the world’s most expensive cities for wealthy consumers, Singapore held the top spot for the fourth straight year. Julius Baer said the city remained firmly in first place largely because of very high prices for residential property and automobiles, two categories that carry the greatest weight in the index. Zurich ranked second, while Monaco moved into third place for the first time, pushing Hong Kong to fourth. London placed fifth, followed by Shanghai, Paris, Sydney, Milan and Bangkok.

Across all categories, the bank said the average cost of luxury goods and services rose 10.2%. Prices for physical luxury goods increased 12.3%, led by jewelry at 16.4% and watches at 15.5%. Julius Baer said higher raw material costs and currency swings helped drive those increases.

The report also found that spending on experiences remained a major force in luxury consumption even amid geopolitical uncertainty. Fine dining stood out especially strongly in Asia-Pacific, where 66% of respondents said it was one of the areas where they spent the most. The figure was 60% in the Middle East, 37% in Europe and 33% in North America.

Within that category, Shanghai ranked as the most expensive city in the world for fine dining. Paris was second, followed by Hong Kong, Monaco and Milan. At the other end of the ranking, Johannesburg was listed as the least expensive city among those surveyed for a high-end dining experience.

The Champagne results pointed in a different geographic direction. Julius Baer said South America was the region where respondents were most likely to say they devoted much of their spending to fine wines and Champagne, with 32% citing that category. In the city-by-city ranking for Champagne, Santiago came in first as the most expensive market in the survey.

Milan ranked 11th in the Champagne category, ahead of Paris, which placed 22nd despite being in France, Champagne’s home country. Hong Kong was listed as the city where a glass of Champagne was relatively least expensive among the 25 cities tracked.

The report suggests that, for wealthy consumers, meals, travel and drinks continue to compete with traditional luxury purchases such as jewelry and watches. While property and cars still shape the overall cost ranking the most, the data showed that premium hospitality and dining remained central to spending decisions in several regions.

Julius Baer uses the index each year to track both pricing shifts and changes in consumer preferences among wealthy households. This year’s results showed that luxury inflation remained broad, but the strongest signals in food and drink came from two separate cities: Shanghai for the cost of a fine dining experience and Santiago for the price of Champagne.