Economy

São Paulo has gotten more expensive for its wealthy residents

Brazil's biggest city was ranked as the ninth most expensive city for the wealthy, per a new ranking by Julius Baer, a Swiss private banking group

Brazil’s Faria Lima financial district is a symbol of São Paulo’s wealth. Photo: ADVTP/Shutterstock

Living a millionaire lifestyle is more expensive in São Paulo than it is in Miami or Paris, according to the 2023 edition of Julius Baer’s Global Wealth And Lifestyle Report. 

This is the first time a South American city has been among the world’s top 10 most expensive cities for wealthy people, featuring in ninth place. Indeed, with São Paulo shooting up the ranking and Santiago debuting at 23rd, the Americas is now the world’s second most expensive region for the affluent population — overtaking Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Nevertheless, the ranking’s podium is fully Asian: Singapore, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Julius Baer’s index average price has increased by 6 percent in U.S. dollars and 13 percent in local currencies over the last 12 months, mainly due to “persistent 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,” says the report.

São Paulo experienced one of the...

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