The first global wealth and lifestyle report compiled by Julius Baer is designed as a guidebook for wealthy clients – and to give help on what to expect in which of the world's major cities.

In Europe, Barcelona and Frankfurt offer the best value-for-money ratio for a life in luxury, according to Julius Baer, the Swiss private bank.

The Zurich-based bank on Thursday presented the new «Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2020». The report contains a wealth of information about global lifestyle-trends in 2020, according to Rajesh Manwani, head markets and wealth management solutions Asia Pacific at Julius Baer.

Zurich in Second Place in Europe

The first ever wealth and lifestyle report shows trends in global luxury consumption, relevant to the wealthy clientele of Julius Baer. The bank originally introduced the methodology in the wealth report Asia in 2011 and extended it to 28 cities across the globe for the new report.

Zurich places ninth in the ranking of the most expensive cities and is the second-most expensive European city after London. Service fees, hotel rooms (No. 6 worldwide) and restaurants (No. 7 worldwide) make it stand out as pricy destination for people with a taste for luxury.

On the other, Zurich – much like Frankfurt – has the best prices in Europe for expensive clothing and jewelry.

Top for Recycling

Julius Baer writes in the report that there is widespread reluctance in Europe to pay extra for ecological produce. Consumers, who see themselves as demanding and less prone to be manipulated, like to question the motives behind companies’ claims in their ad campaigns.

Which doesn’t mean that European consumers on principal reject ecological production and produce. Countries such as Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Wales boast top ratings for their recycling effort.