In Europe, the variation in average amounts of financial wealth per adult varied considerably as of 2022, from approximately 449,000 U.S. dollars in Switzerland to roughly 1,200 U.S. dollars in Azerbaijan. In Europe, the overall average financial wealth per adult as of 2022 was 84,308 U.S. dollars. In terms of private wealth, Europe held the second highest value in the world, after North America.

What is financial wealth?

Financial wealth, also known as financial assets or liquid assets can include wealth that an individual has in the forms of cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and bank deposits. In addition to financial wealth, wealth can also be measured in other assets, called non-financial wealth. This includes physical assets, such as real estate, land, vehicles, jewelry, and art, just to name a few.

Where do most wealthy individuals live?

Individuals with a net worth over one million U.S. dollars are called high-net worth individuals (HNWI). The United States was the home country to the highest number of HNWIs in 2021. China followed, although their number of HNWIs did not even reach one third of the number in the United States. In Europe, Switzerland is the country with the highest average financial wealth per adult, but with its small population size, the number of HNWIs does not come near the numbers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy – the European countries with the highest number of HNWIs. Considering Switzerland’s small population size, however, it is the country in the world with the highest proportion of millionaires.

The total wealth value of the adult population in Europe peaked in 2021, at around 108.1 trillion U.S. dollars. The wealth fluctuated during the period from 2010 to 2022, with the lowest value in 2016 at around 77.56 trillion U.S. dollars. The total wealth of the adult population in Europe currently rests at 104.4 trillion U.S. dollars.

This statistic presents the population of high net worth individuals in selected European countries from 2013 to 2019."High net worth individuals" (HNWI) in financial services and private wealth management industries signifies persons, whose investible assets (stocks, bonds etc.) exceed a specific given amount. In the case of the underlying report, the threshold minimum defined for these figures was at least one million U.S. dollars in financial assets.

During the period displayed, the number of HNWI's across Europe has seen a general increase. There were approximately 1.47 million high net worth individuals living in Germany as of 2019, an annual increase of nine percent. The highest annual change in the countries included was seen in Switzerland, which saw the number of HNWI's increase by 14 percent between 2018 and 2019.

The number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Europe has grown steadily over the past decade. This trend reflects broader wealth accumulation patterns across the continent, with the richest segments of society gaining an increasingly larger share of total wealth. Despite this concentration at the top, recent years have seen some positive signs in terms of overall income inequality reduction in Europe. Wealth concentration at the top From 1995 to 2021, the wealthiest one percent in Europe increased their share of wealth from 22 percent to over 26 percent. During this same period, the bottom 90 percent saw their collective share shrink. This concentration of wealth at the top aligns with the growth in HNWIs observed in countries in Europe. The top 10 percent of wealthy Europeans now own more than the remaining 90 percent combined, highlighting the significant wealth disparity that persists despite the overall increase in HNWIs.

Signs of improving income equality While wealth concentration has increased, there are indications that income inequality in the European Union has been improving in recent years. The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has been declining in both the EU and Eurozone since 2014, reaching new lows of 29.6 and 29.8 respectively in 2023. Additionally, the income ratio between the top 20 percent and bottom 20 percent of earners in the EU has fallen from 5.22 in 2015 to 4.74 in 2022. These trends suggest that despite the growth in HNWIs, efforts to address income disparities may be having some positive effects across the broader population.

This statistic illustrates the number of individuals with a personal net wealth of over one million US dollars in Europe, in selected years from 2017 to 2022 and projections for 2027. The number of millionaires in Europe has increased overall, amounting to approximately 18.93 million individuals in 2022. The number of millionaires in Europe has been forecast to grow between 2021 and 2027, estimated to reach over 27 million.

The wealth of high income individuals in Europe between 2009 and 2023 showed a general growing trend. In 2009 the wealth of high net worth individuals in Europe amounted to more than 9.5 trillion U.S. dollars and it grew to over 4.2 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of 2016. Overall, high-net worth individuals in Europe held approximately 18.8 trillion U.S. dollars in investable wealth in 2023.

This statistic presents the financial net worth of households per capita in selected European countries as of 2018. It can be seen that the financial worth of households per capita in Switzerland was the highest in Europe at a value of approximately 169.5 thousand USD in 2018.

In 2023, Germany topped the list in Europe for the number of billionaire individuals living there, having more than double the number of billionaires in Italy and France.

This statistic illustrates the number of individuals with a personal net wealth of over thirty million US dollars in Europe, in selected years from 2017 to 2021, with projections for 2027. The population of ultra-high net worth in Europe has increased overall between 2017 and 2022. In 2022, there were 156 thousand UNWIs in Europe. By 2027, the number is forecast to reach approximately over 187 thousand.

In 2023, Germany had the highest collective wealth of ultra high net worth individuals in Europe, at over 2,624 billion U.S dollars, followed by United Kingdom (UK) at 1,592 billion dollars.

During the period from 1995 to 2021, the top one percent of wealthy people in Europe increased their share of the wealth distribution from 22 percent to over 26 percent. Over the same period, the wealth of the bottom 50 percent and the middle forty percent (top 10-50%) of people saw their shares shrink, while the share of wealth owned by the rest of the top 10 percent remained stable, at between 35 and 36 percent. The top 10 percent of wealthy people collectively own more than the remaining 90 percent of people in Europe combined in all years of this period.

As of 2021, industry professionals estimated that a total of 46.9 trillion euros was held by European households ranging in economic status from affluent to High Net Worth individuals (HNWI). Affluent households controlled the majority of this wealth as it was estimated that affluent households held 22.6 trillion euros in total. Industry professionals have estimated that affluent households in Europe invested the lowest percent of their wealth in assets. However, no data was provided on offshore holdings held by affluent households.

This statistic shows the female share of the wealth of the ultra high-net worth population in five European countries in 2014. Switzerland ultra high-net worth females are worth 156 million U.S. dollars, and they represent 21 percent of the total population wealth.

This statistic presents the assets of high net worth individuals in European countries as of the first quarter of 2019, broken down by asset type. In 2018, 28.5 percent of assets owned by HNWI's in Europe were investments in equities. A further 28.3 percent were cash and cash equivalents.

As of 2022, Germany had the highest number of individuals with a net worth of over one million U.S. dollars, excluding the value of their primary residence. This trend is expected to continue with 2027 forecasts predicting that almost five million individuals living in Germany will be considered as High Net Worth individuals (UHNWIs). France ranked second with roughly 3.2 million HNWIs being located in France as of 2022.

The statistic displays the share of private wealth that the richest ten percent of the population own in selected European countries as of 2014. The wealth concentration was highest in Austria and Germany, where the wealthiest 10 percent of households owned 62 and 60 percent of total value of private wealth, respectively.

The financial net worth of households per capita in France grew overall during the period from 2000 to 2023. The household net worth per capita was around 36,900 U.S. dollars in 2000, and had increased to around 99,000 U.S. dollars in 2023.

The statistic displays the minimum threshold of wealth owned by the population in selected European countries in order to be selected into the richest one percent as of 2014. For instance, in Luxembourg, the top richest one percent of the population started at 2.7 million euros in 2014. In comparison, in Spain the cut-off point was at 227.7 thousand euros in the same year.

This statistic shows the share of women in the population of ultra high-net worth individuals in five select European countries in 2014. Switzerland had the highest share of women amongst its ultra rich population, with 16 percent of individuals being female. Right after came Turkey with 15 percent.

As of 2022, Germany had the highest number of individuals with a net worth of over 30 million U.S. dollars excluding the value of their primary residence. This trend is expected to continue with 2027 forecasts predicting that almost 31,000 individuals living in Germany will be considered as Ultra High Net Worth individuals (UHNWIs). Hungary had some of the lowest numbers of UHNWI with 2027 forecasts reaching 415 individuals.