The results of a recent survey on cost of luxury provide an indication of the price expats can expect to pay for a luxurious lifestyle in popular expat destinations throughout the world.
The annual Knight Frank Wealth Report offers an interesting insight into the world of prime property and wealth. New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong feature as the most appealing cities in the world for wealthy individuals, with rankings based on four criteria: economic activity, political power, quality of life, and knowledge and influence. Zurich, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto and Frankfurt were named as the top five cities in terms of quality of life on offer and New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Shanghai ranked as the most important in terms of economic activity.
Of the global cities involved in the survey, Hong Kong was named as the most expensive expat destination for a luxury lifestyle. The cost of purchasing a luxury two-bedroom apartment in this area of the world will set you back approximately $4.81 million and a gallon of milk can be as much as $10.22, $5.34 more than the price in New York.
The report also indicated that the Middle East is attracting an increasing number of wealthy expats. The UAE was ranked second to Iraq in terms of growth of wealthy individuals and the number of high net worth individuals with a fortune of $30m in this part of the world is forecast to rise by 53 percent over the next decade, with the number of such individuals increasing from 828 to 1270 by the year 2022. The number of high net worth individuals is set to increase across the Middle East as a whole by 58 per cent.
Discussing the results, Liam Bailey, Global Head of Residential Research at Knight Frank, said: “The largest concentration of wealth is currently based in the established centres of North America and Europe, but there is set to be rapid growth in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In the next decade we will see the biggest increase in ultra-wealthy individuals in cities such as Sao Paulo, Beijing, and Mumbai.
“According to a survey of advisors with 15,000 ultra-wealthy clients, London and New York are still the most important destinations in the world. In ten years’ time they will still lead the way, but key Asian cities will have moved further up the list.”
This year’s wealth report was based on the results of a survey involving over 15,000 people who hold assets valued at $30m or more.
