Median Net Worth in Europe by Country and by Age
Median household net worth in nine euro area countries, by age bracket, from the ECB's HFCS survey (2023 wave) — with the UK, US, Canada and Australia for reference, and why these figures do not quite compare.
"Are Germans richer than the French?" The question comes up often, and the answer depends almost entirely on how you ask it. At what age? With or without pensions? Mean or median? Measured in which year?
There is, however, one source that compares European countries using a single definition: the European Central Bank's survey of household finances and consumption. Here is what it says, country by country and age by age — and what it does not allow you to say.
A common survey for the euro area
The HFCS (Household Finance and Consumption Survey) is coordinated by the ECB and carried out in each country by the national central bank or statistics office. In France, it is INSEE's Histoire de vie et Patrimoine survey; in Germany, the Bundesbank's PHF study; in Italy, the Banca d'Italia survey of household income and wealth; in Spain, the Banco de España's EFF. The questionnaires differ, but the results are harmonised on a common definition of net worth: property, financial assets and other assets, minus all debts.
The figures below come from the statistical tables of the 2023 wave, published in June 2026. They cover the household, classified by the age of its reference person, and give the median: the value that splits households in each bracket into two equal halves. The mean, pulled up by the largest fortunes, describes an ordinary household less well — our article on average net worth by age goes into that difference.
The table, bracket by bracket
Pick an age: the table ranks the euro area countries against each other, from the highest median net worth to the lowest. The United Kingdom, outside the euro area, is shown in its own currency and is not ranked.
Median net worth at 50, country by country
Each country with its own survey. Euro area countries are ranked against each other; the others stay in their own currency and are not ranked.
| Country | Age | Median | Survey | Workplace pensions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luxembourg | 45–54 | €644,900 | HFCS 2023 | excluded |
| Belgium | 45–54 | €280,500 | HFCS 2023 | excluded |
| Austria | 45–54 | €186,200 | HFCS 2023-2024 | excluded |
| Netherlands | 45–54 | €181,000 | HFCS 2023 | excluded |
| Portugal | 45–54 | €178,900 | HFCS 2024 | excluded |
| France | 45–54 | €165,700 | HFCS 2023-2024 | excluded |
| Italy | 45–54 | €159,000 | HFCS 2022-2023 | excluded |
| Germany | 45–54 | €157,100 | HFCS 2023-2024 | excluded |
| Spain | 45–54 | €140,800 | HFCS 2022-2023 | excluded |
| United Kingdom | 45–54 | £301,900 | WAS 2020-2022 | included |
Where do you stand?
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What you own, minus what you owe. Leave out workplace pension savings: this country's survey does not count them.
Enter an amount to compare it with the median for your age.
The calculator goes through your property, savings and debts line by line, with no account.
Calculate my net worthWhat the figures show
Luxembourg, in a league of its own at every age
Luxembourg leads every bracket, by a wide margin: a median net worth of €644,900 between 45 and 54, and €1,029,600 between 55 and 64. Income levels and, above all, property prices — the main home is the largest line in most households' wealth — account for most of the gap.
Belgium, second at every age
With €280,500 between 45 and 54 and €337,800 between 55 and 64, Belgium ranks second in both brackets — and in all the others. Home ownership is high, and the Belgian median already stands at €97,200 before the age of 35.
A tight group in the middle
Between 45 and 54, seven countries sit within a narrow range: Austria (€186,200), the Netherlands (€181,000), Portugal (€178,900), France (€165,700), Italy (€159,000), Germany (€157,100) and Spain (€140,800). Gaps of this size owe as much to collection dates and household composition as to real differences in wealth.
Germany: second to last among the young, third before retirement
This is the sharpest contrast in the table. Before 35, the German median is €17,600, second to last of the nine countries, ahead of Austria (€13,400). Between 55 and 64, it reaches €256,900, third behind Luxembourg and Belgium. German households rent more often and buy later: their wealth builds up over a longer, later period.
Italy: better-endowed young households
Conversely, Italian households under 35 have a median of €53,500, third after Luxembourg (€135,000) and Belgium (€97,200). Family help with buying a home and the early passing-on of property play a large part in Italy; but the median then grows more slowly than elsewhere, reaching €206,400 between 55 and 64.
France, in the middle of the group
France sits in the middle of the group: €27,700 before 35, €102,600 between 35 and 44, €165,700 between 45 and 54, €227,500 between 55 and 64. Our articles on wealth at 30, at 40 and at 50 go through these benchmarks decade by decade.
Why these figures do not quite compare
The same definition does not guarantee the same reality. Four limits are worth knowing before drawing any conclusion from a ranking.
Pensions are not counted the same way everywhere
The ECB survey counts voluntary retirement savings — personal plans, life insurance — but excludes state pension rights and workplace pension savings. Yet retirement systems vary widely from one country to another. Where a large share of retirement income comes from workplace pension funds, as in the Netherlands, those savings very much exist but do not appear in the median. A country can thus look poorer than it is, simply because its savings are held elsewhere.
Collection years differ
The 2023 wave actually spans three years: 2022–2023 for Spain and Italy, 2023 for Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, 2023–2024 for France, Germany and Austria, 2024 for Portugal. Between those dates, property prices and financial markets moved, and household wealth with them.
Households are not the same size everywhere
The statistic covers the household, not the individual. Households are larger, and more often multi-generational, in some countries than in others. A higher median per household may simply reflect more people under the same roof.
Euros, not purchasing power
The amounts are in current euros, with no adjustment for the cost of living. The same net worth does not buy the same standard of living in Lisbon, Munich or Luxembourg — and housing costs, which swell homeowners' wealth, also make life more expensive for everyone.
And outside the euro area?
Other countries publish comparable statistics, with their own definitions. They do not rank alongside euro area countries — different currency, different survey, different year — but they give an order of magnitude:
- United Kingdom — the ONS (Wealth and Assets Survey, 2020–2022) puts median total household wealth at £301,900 for ages 45 to 54. Private pensions are included.
- United States — the Federal Reserve (Survey of Consumer Finances 2022) gives $247,200 for families aged 45 to 54. Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s are included.
- Canada — Statistics Canada (Survey of Financial Security 2023) gives CA$675,800 for families aged 45 to 54, employer pension plans included.
- Australia — the ABS (2019–2020) gives A$799,600 for households aged 45 to 54, superannuation included.
All four statistics count workplace retirement savings, which the ECB survey excludes. That alone is reason enough not to put them in the same ranking.
Seeing where you stand
A ranking of countries says nothing about your own situation. What can be useful, on the other hand, is the median for your age bracket, in your country, measured with the same definition as your own calculation. That is what the tool below the table above does: it applies each country's rule on workplace pension savings and tells you whether you are above or below the median — without claiming a rank that a median cannot provide.
For a full calculation, line by line — property, savings, debts —, the net worth calculator takes a few minutes and needs no account. If you hold assets or accounts in several countries, our net worth assessment explains how to bring everything together into one figure.
Conclusion
Within the euro area, the gaps are considerable: between 45 and 54, Luxembourg's median net worth is more than four times that of Spain. But most of these gaps come down to things the statistic records without explaining: the age at which people buy a home, the role of pension funds, household size, the price of housing.
A ranking of countries answers a question of curiosity. The question that concerns you is simpler: where do you stand compared with households of your age in your country? It can be answered in a few minutes.
