Shanghai has become the world's most expensive city, with Tokyo, Japan in second place and Hong Kong, China, in third, down from first place last year.

By region, Asia remains the world's most expensive region for high-end living costs, while the Americas are the cheapest, partly because Asia has recovered from the global pandemic crisis and exchange rates have stabilized in the region; on the other hand, the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar have declined against the world's other major currencies, as well as Latin American currencies have depreciated sharply.

Monaco came first in the house price rankings, with Hong Kong second and London third.

EXTENDED INFORMATION:

According to the report, Bank Julius Baer classifies high-end lifestyle items into five categories, including Home (homes, cars and pianos), Experiences (machine wine, high-end dining, high-end wines and whiskies), Fashion (women's shoes, men's suits, jewelry, watches, women's handbags), family (boarding schools, universities, lawyers, weddings) and wellness (beauty services, laser vision correction, surgery and personal training).

This year's report examines the impact of the new crown epidemic on high-end spending. In dollar terms, the luxury items with the biggest price declines were women's shoes, which fell 11.7 percent, hotel suites, which fell 9.3 percent, and high-end wines, which fell 5.6 percent. The biggest price increases were in business class airfare, up 11.4%, whiskey prices up 9.9%, and watches up 6.6%.