Wealth distribution in Germany: Rich people own over 60% of the total wealth

Wealth distribution in Germany: Rich people own over 60% of the total wealth

According to the European Central Bank, the richest ten percent of Germans own more than 60 percent of the country's total wealth. The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger and bigger. New data from the ECB, published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, shows that the Gini coefficient in Germany is 0.77. This inequality is higher than the average for other euro countries, such as Italy and France.

Compared to other EU countries, Germany shows high inequality in the area of ​​household wealth. In 2022, more than half of the German population lived in rent, which could be a reason for the higher inequality. The bottom 50 percent of the population owns around 0.4 trillion euros, while the top ten percent hold 10.5 trillion euros, which corresponds to 61.2 percent of total assets.

The bottom 50 percent have mostly low-risk investments such as savings accounts, while the richest 10 percent are often associated with real estate and business assets. The assets of different sections of the population show clear differences. Wealth growth for both groups between 2011 and 2024 is around 50 to 60 percent when adjusted for the consumer price index.