According to new statistics from the European Central Bank (ECB) on the distribution of wealth among households, their net assets have increased by 29 percent in the past five years, as the monetary authorities announced on Monday in Frankfurt. Inequality has decreased slightly.
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“In part because homeowners, who make up more than 60 percent of the population, benefited from increased property prices,” the ECB said. The euro watchdogs had kept interest rates ultra-low in recent years until the summer of 2022. This contributed to a boom in the real estate markets. In Germany, the Bundesbank had warned against overvaluations.
Homeowners’ net worth increased
Homeowners’ net worth increased 27 percent over the past five years, according to the data. However, according to ECB statistics, the 40 percent of households that did not own real estate only increased their net assets by 17 percent – primarily due to the increase in their bank deposits. The data also showed that the wealth of the richest five percent of households fell slightly between 2016 and the second quarter of 2023. However, they still accounted for 43 percent of total net assets in the second quarter of 2023.
According to the ECB, these statistical data – “Distributional Wealth Accounts” (DWA) – are produced quarterly. The monetary authorities always want to publish them five months after the end of the respective period.
