At the turn of the twentieth century, the wealthiest one percent of people in the United Kingdom controlled 71 percent of net personal wealth, while the top ten percent controlled 93 percent. The share of wealth controlled by the rich in the United Kingdom fell throughout the twentieth century, and by 1990 the richest one percent controlled 16 percent of wealth, and the richest ten percent just over half of it.

The Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is a longitudinal survey, which aims to address gaps identified in data about the economic well-being of households by gathering information on level of assets, savings and debt; saving for retirement; how wealth is distributed among households or individuals; and factors that affect financial planning. Private households in Great Britain were sampled for the survey (meaning that people in residential institutions, such as retirement homes, nursing homes, prisons, barracks or university halls of residence, and also homeless people were not included).

The WAS commenced in July 2006, with a first wave of interviews carried out over two years, to June 2008. Interviews were achieved with 30,595 households at Wave 1. Those households were approached again for a Wave 2 interview between July 2008 and June 2010, and 20,170 households took part. Wave 3 covered July 2010 - June 2012, Wave 4 covered July 2012 - June 2014 and Wave 5 covered July 2014 - June 2016. Revisions to previous waves' data mean that small differences may occur between originally published estimates and estimates from the datasets held by the UK Data Service. These revisions are due to improvements in the imputation methodology.

Note from the WAS team - November 2023:
"The Office for National Statistics has identified a very small number of outlier cases present in the seventh round of the Wealth and Assets Survey covering the period April 2018 to March 2020. Our current approach is to treat cases where we have reasonable evidence to suggest the values provided for specific variables are outliers. This approach did not occur for two individuals for several variables involved in the estimation of their pension wealth. While we estimate any impacts are very small overall and median pension wealth and median total wealth estimates are unaffected, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of the pension wealth within the wealthiest decile, and data derived from them. We are urging caution in the interpretation of more detailed estimates."

Survey Periodicity - "Waves" to "Rounds"
Due to the survey periodicity moving from "Waves" (July, ending in June two years later) to “Rounds” (April, ending in March two years later), interviews using the ‘Wave 6’ questionnaire started in July 2016 and were conducted for 21 months, finishing in March 2018. Data for round 6 covers the period April 2016 to March 2018. This comprises of the last three months of Wave 5 (April to June 2016) and 21 months of Wave 6 (July 2016 to March 2018). Round 5 and Round 6 datasets are based on a mixture of original wave-based datasets. Each wave of the survey has a unique questionnaire and therefore each of these round-based datasets are based on two questionnaires. While there may be some changes in the questionnaires, the derived variables for the key wealth estimates have not changed over this period. The aim is to collect the same data, though in some cases the exact questions asked may differ slightly. Detailed information on Moving the Wealth and Assets Survey onto a financial years’ basis was published on the ONS website in July 2019.

Further information and documentation may be found on the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey webpage. Users are advised to the check the page for updates before commencing analysis.

Users should note that issues with linking have been reported and the WAS team are currently investigating.

Secure Access WAS data
The Secure Access version of the WAS includes additional, detailed geographical variables not included in the End User Licence (EUL) version (SN 7215). These include:

• Wards
• Parliamentary Constituency Areas for Wave 1 only
• Census Output Areas
• Lower Layer Super Output Areas
• Local Authorities
  
• Local Education Authorities

Prospective users of the Secure Access version of the WAS will need to fulfil additional requirements, including completion of face-to-face training, and agreement to the Secure Access User Agreement and Licence Compliance Policy, in order to obtain permission to use that version (see 'Access' section below). Users are therefore strongly encouraged to download the EUL version (SN 7215) to see if it contains sufficient detail for their needs, before considering making an application for the Secure Access version.

Latest Edition Information
For the tenth edition (September 2025), the Round 8 person and household data have been added to the study.

The value of any pension pots already accrued that are not state basic retirement or state earning related. This includes occupational pensions, personal pensions, retained rights in previous pensions and pensions in payment.

The small area model-based income estimates are the official estimates of average (mean) household income at the middle layer super output area (MSOA) level in England and Wales for 2011/12, 2013/14 and 2015/16.

For 2015-16 the figures are average annual income. For 2013/14 and 2011/12 the figures are average weekly income.

They are calculated using a model based method to produce the following four estimates of income using a combination of survey data from the Family Resources Survey, and previously published data from the 2011 Census and a number of administrative data sources. The four different measures of income are:

1. Total household income
2. Net household income
3. Net household income (equivalised) before housing costs
4. Net household income (equivalised) after housing costs

Total annual household income is the sum of the gross income of every member of the household plus any income from benefits such as Working Families Tax Credit.

Net annual household income is the sum of the net income of every member of the household. It is calculated using the same components as total income but income is net of:

• income tax payments;
• national insurance contributions;
• domestic rates/council tax;
• contributions to occupational pension schemes;
• all maintenance and child support payments, which are deducted from the income of the person making the payments; and
• parental contribution to students living away from home.

Net annual household income before housing costs (equivalised) is composed of the same elements as net household weekly income but is subject to the OECD’s equivalisation scale.

Net annual household income after housing costs (equivalised) is composed of the same elements of net household weekly income but is subject to the following deductions prior to the OECD’s equivalisation scale being applied:

• rent (gross of housing benefit);
• water rates, community water charges and council water charges;
• mortgage interest payments (net of any tax relief);
• structural insurance premiums (for owner occupiers); and
• ground rent and service charges.

For detailed information on aspects of the quality and methodology behind these statistics, "https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/methodologies/smallareaincomeestimatesmodelbasedestimatesofthemeanhouseholdweeklyincomeformiddlelayersuperoutputareas201314technicalreport " target="_blank">see the Technical Report.

This dataset is included in the Greater London Authority's Night Time Observatory. Click here to find out more.

House prices vary widely in the United Kingdom (UK), but housing in certain cities and counties is substantially pricier than in others. Surrey, for example, concentrated four of the most expensive towns to buy a home, including Virginia Water, Cobham, and Esher. With an average house price of over *********** British pounds as of June 2024, housing in these towns cost roughly **** times the national average. How did house prices change since the COVID-19 pandemic? Since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, demand for housing has been especially high, causing house prices to soar. Among major UK cities, the house price increase was most prominent in Belfast, where it rose by *** percent in 2024. According to the UK House Price Index, the average annual house price increase on a national level was even higher. How long does it take to sell a house? With the demand for housing going strong and inventory running low, aspiring homeowners need to act faster than ever when making an offer on a home. The average number of days on market has continued shortening since the start of 2021 and was a little over a month as of October 2021. Surprisingly, selling a property took the longest in the UK’s most competitive market - London.

This statistic displays the average total income per retired household in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017/18, by decile. The average total income, per retired household of those in the top decile amounted to 53,7632 thousand British pounds. This was over 18 times more than the average total income per retired household of those in the bottom decile, which came to 2,883 British pounds.

In 2024, Switzerland led the ranking of countries with the highest average wealth per adult, with approximately ******* U.S. dollars per person. The United States was ranked second with an average wealth of around ******* U.S. dollars per adult, followed by Hong Kong SAR. However, the figures do not show the actual distribution of wealth. The Gini index shows wealth disparities in countries worldwide. Does wealth guarantee a longer life? As the adage goes, “money can’t buy you happiness,” yet wealth and income are continuously correlated to the quality of life of individuals in different countries around the world. While greater levels of wealth may not guarantee a higher quality of life, it certainly increases an individual’s chances of having a longer one. Although they do not show the whole picture, life expectancy at birth is higher in the wealthier world regions. Does money bring happiness? A number of the world’s happiest nations also feature in the list of those countries for which average income was highest. Finland, however, which was the happiest country worldwide in 2022, is missing from the list of the top twenty countries with the highest wealth per adult. As such, the explanation for this may be the fact that a larger proportion of the population has access to a high-income relative to global levels. Measures of quality of life Criticism of the use of income or wealth as a proxy for quality of life led to the creation of the United Nations’ Human Development Index. Although income is included within the index, it also has other factors taken into account, such as health and education. As such, the countries with the highest human development index can be correlated to those with the highest income levels. That said, none of the above measures seek to assess the physical and mental environmental impact of a high quality of life sourced through high incomes. The happy planet index demonstrates that the inclusion of experienced well-being and ecological footprint in place of income and other proxies for quality of life results in many of the world’s materially poorer nations being included in the happiest.

In 2024, the highest median amount of disposable income was among those aged 25 to 34 year-olds, at 43,552 pounds, with the highest mean income among those aged between 55 and 65.

East Dunbartonshire, the city of Edinburgh, East Loathian and East Renfrewshire were the most xpensive regions for residential property in Scotland as of February 2025. The average house price in those regions were over 300,000 British pounds. In comparison, the average house price in Scotland was almost two times lower. Which are the most expensive streets to live in Scotland? With the average house price valued at approximately 3 million British pounds, Queen's Crescent, Auchterarder PH3 was the most expensive street for residential real estate in Scotland in 2024. This was almost twice higher than in the second-priciest street, Ann street, Edinburgh EH4. Compared to other regions in the UK, Scotland is affordable Though 3.6 million British pounds is an impressive figure, not all housing in Scotland falls in this price bracket. In fact, with an average house price of about 170,000 British pounds, Scotland is the third most affordable region for first-time home buyers. Furthermore, it has the second lowest rent to income ratio in the UK.

United Kingdom Weekly Household Exp: Avg: OE: Money Transfer & Credit (MT) data was reported at 13.000 GBP in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 10.900 GBP for 2015. United Kingdom Weekly Household Exp: Avg: OE: Money Transfer & Credit (MT) data is updated yearly, averaging 11.000 GBP from Dec 2006 (Median) to 2016, with 11 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.000 GBP in 2016 and a record low of 0.100 GBP in 2011. United Kingdom Weekly Household Exp: Avg: OE: Money Transfer & Credit (MT) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.H023: Average Weekly Household Expenditure.

In September 2025, the top one percent of earners in the United Kingdom received an average pay of 16,212 British pounds per month, compared with the bottom ten percent of earners who earned around 855 pounds a month.

In 2022, the majority of Indian adults had a wealth of 10,000 U.S. dollars or less. On the other hand, about *** percent were worth more than *********** dollars that year. India The Republic of India is one of the world’s largest and most economically powerful states. India gained independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947, after having been under their power for 200 years. With a population of about *** billion people, it was the second most populous country in the world. Of that *** billion, about **** million lived in New Delhi, the capital. Wealth inequality India suffers from extreme income inequality. It is estimated that the top 10 percent of the population holds ** percent of the national wealth. Billionaire fortune has increase sporadically in the last years whereas minimum wages have remain stunted.

This statistic shows the weekly amounts of money spent on digital media and latest technologies by children in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014. Children downloaded an average of five music tracks a week (value of 4.95 British pounds) as well as computer games (2.3 British pounds). Including mobile phone bills that amount to approximately 2.77 British pounds, items purchased outweighed the average weekly amount of pocket money, prompting children to look for additional sources of financing.

This statistic presents information on the pocket money offered to boys and girls for performing household chores in the United Kingdom, as of July 2014. On average, more girls "earn" pocket money than boys for performing household chores: 45 percent of girls earned pocket money for tidying the bedroom and 39 percent of boys received money for the same chore.

This statistic shows total leisure spending in Great Britain in ***********, *********** and ***********, by region. Household leisure spend in Great Britain amounted to ****** British pounds in ***********, compared to *** British pounds a month in the same period in 2014.