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.

Individual-level estimates of total wealth (July 2010 to March 2020) and regression estimates for the latest survey period.

As of 2022, from the almost 70 million people living in the United Kingdom (UK), 2,556 people were considered to be U.S. dollar millionaires. 2,227 UK citizens were thought to be in the top one percent of global wealth holders.

As of 2025, the GDP per capita or gross domestic product per person was almost ****** U.S. dollars per person. The GDP per capita is derived from the country's total GDP divided by the population. The average or mean wealth per person in the United Kingdom (UK) was higher than the median or middle value of wealth per person living in the UK.

This GLA Intelligence Update takes a brief look at evidence around the wealth gap in London and examines how this has changed in recent years.

Key Findings

• There is a significant gap between the rich and poor in London, both in terms of their wealth and their income.
• A higher proportion of the wealthiest households are in the South East of England than in London.
• Pension wealth accounts for more than half the wealth of the richest ten per cent of the population.
• In London, the tenth of the population with the highest income have weekly income after housing costs of over £1,000 while people in the lowest tenth have under £94 per week.
• The gap between rich and poor is growing, with the difference between the average income for the second highest tenth and second lowest tenth growing around 14 per cent more than inflation since 2003.

Click on the report below to read

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The data included in the report is available to download here

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. Data are revised on a wave by wave basis, as a result of backwards imputation from the current wave's data. 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.

A Secure Access version of the WAS, subject to more stringent access conditions, is available under SN 6709; it contains more detailed geographic variables than the EUL version. Users are advised to download the EUL version first (SN 7215) to see if it is suitable for their needs, before considering making an application for the Secure Access version.

Further information and documentation may be found on the ONS "https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/methodologies/wealthandassetssurveywas" title="Wealth and Assets Survey"> Wealth and Assets Survey webpage. Users are advised to the check the page for updates before commencing analysis.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022 data files

The ONS have identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. None of ONS' headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. For further information on this issue, please see: https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/occupationaldatainonssurveys.

The data dictionary for round 8 person file is not available.

Latest edition information

For the 20th edition (May 2025), the Round 8 data files were updated to include variables personr7, nounitsr8 and porage1tar8, and derived binary versions of multi-choice questions, their collected equivalents and imputed binary versions of these variables. Also, variables that were only collected for part of the round have been removed. Additional documentation for Round 8 was also added to the study, including an updated variable list and derived variable specifications.

This statistic presents the wealth distribution among households in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018. Approximately **** percent adults in the United Kingdom found themselves in the bracket of between 100 thousand and *********** U.S. dollars as their household private wealth.

Total wealth is the sum of the four components of wealth and is therefore net of all liabilities.

The values of any financial assets held including both formal investments, such as bank or building society current or saving accounts, investment vehicles such as Individual Savings Accounts, endowments, stocks and shares, and informal savings.

A dataset containing decile boundaries for equivalised household spending, financial wealth and property wealth, as well as breakdowns for overspending and poverty by region and household type.

These data explore changes in English and American consumption between 1550 and 1800. The probate inventories (Parts 1-11) include information about personal wealth, household production, and the possession of consumer durables and semi-durables. The household survey for England circa 1790 (Part 12) contains dietary information as well as information about other household expenditures. The wills from England and America (Part 13) are a source for learning about the kinds of goods people obtained from their families through inheritance. Finally, information pertaining to the distribution network in eighteenth century England is contained in the aggregate county-level data on the shop and peddler's tax (Part 13).

Data on household wealth in Great Britain by ethnic group. Includes total, property, financial, physical and private pension wealth by age, region, household composition and housing tenure.

In 2023, the number of individuals living in the United Kingdom (UK) with a net worth of over ** million U.S. dollars excluding the value of their primary residence was more than ****** people. This number is expected to grow to over ****** by 2028.

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.

A combined analysis of income and wealth based upon results from the third wave of the Wealth and Assets Survey and covering the period 2010-12.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Wealth in Great Britain Wave 3

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The overall wealth of households in the United Kingdom was **** trillion British pounds in the period between 2020 and 2022. Of this overall wealth, the top ten percent of households had over *** trillion pounds of wealth, compared with **** billion owned by the lowest wealth decile.

In 2023, the number of individuals living in the United Kingdom (UK) with a net worth of over one million U.S. dollars excluding the value of their primary residence was roughly over three million people. This number has been forecasted to decrease to 2.5 million people in 2028..