81% of Germans say wealth is unfairly distributed

According to a recent ARD survey, 81 percent of people in Germany believe wealth is unfairly distributed in the federal republic. How is wealth distributed, and what countermeasures do people want the government to take?

ARD survey on wealth distribution in Germany

According to a representative survey of 2.084 German-speaking people aged 16 and over conducted between April 7 and 14, 2026, an overwhelming majority believe wealth is currently unfairly distributed in Germany.

81 percent of respondents said wealth is currently “unfairly” distributed, and 15 percent said it was “fairly” distributed. Broken down by federal state, in Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, 90 percent of respondents said wealth was unfairly distributed in Germany. 

In Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 86 percent of respondents agreed. These percentages reflect responses in each individual federal state, not groups of multiple states.

The federal states where the fewest respondents agreed that wealth is unfairly distributed in Germany were North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Rheinland-Palatinate, but in these states between 75 and 77 percent of respondents still agreed.

How is wealth distributed in Germany?

So, how is wealth distributed in Germany? First, it is worth noting the difference between income and wealth distribution. While income distribution considers how much people earn, wealth distribution considers the total value of assets people own.

Income inequality is growing in Germany. According to an income distribution report by the Hans Böckler Foundation, between 2010 and 2022, the percentage of the German population living in poverty grew from 14,4 to 17,7 percent. This refers to the number of households with an income 60 percent below the annual average income of 26.000 euros per person.

Meanwhile, a 2024 report published by the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) found that private households in Germany hold more wealth in assets than ever before. Financial assets can include money in savings, equity investments, shares, bonds and insurance claims. Despite property being a significant part of asset wealth for many households, it was not included in the Bundesbank’s assessment.

While private household wealth is at a record high, this wealth is not distributed equally. The Bundesbank assessed that half of Germany’s private household assets (4,525 billion euros) belong to just 4 million (10 percent) of the country’s 41,3 million households.

Here’s another way to look at wealth distribution in Germany: A Berliner Morgenpost report noted that if Germany’s population were divided into two equal halves based on wealth, the poorer half would own just 1,4 percent of wealth and the richer half 98,6 percent. 

If the population were distributed to reflect this inequality, the poorer half would all be squeezed into an area about the size of Germany’s second-smallest state, Saarland, and the richer half would live in the remaining 15 federal states.

According to the Bundesbank study, which assessed wealth distribution in 20 European countries, Austria is the only European country in which wealth is more unequally distributed.

What wealth redistribution policies do people support?

So what do the 81 percent of people who believe wealth is unfairly distributed in Germany want the government to do about this inequality? 64 percent of respondents said they were in favour of Germany reintroducing a wealth tax. Germany last imposed a wealth tax in 1997.

Support for such a policy rose to between 84 and 88 percent among the Left Party, Greens and SPD voters, 62 percent among CDU/CSU voters and 42 percent among AfD voters. 

61 percent of all respondents said they were in support of increasing inheritance taxes. Current inheritance taxes follow the general rule: the more you inherit, the more you pay. However, there are notable and controversial exceptions for business heirs. Inheritances of up to 500.000 euros for spouses or up to 400.000 euros for children remain tax-free.

52 percent of respondents were against the government making cuts to social security benefits, namely unemployment benefits, statutory health insurance, pension insurance and long-term care insurance to reduce government spending.

In response to the statement, “I understand that I, too, will have to make sacrifices so that we can secure our social safety net for the future”, 47 percent of respondents agreed, and 47 percent disagreed.

32 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “We finally need to work harder again to secure our prosperity in Germany”, and 63 percent disagreed. Interestingly, this statement was more popular with respondents over 70 years old.

And in response to the statement, “Migrants should only receive social benefits in Germany if they have worked here for a significant period of time”, 66 percent agreed, and 26 percent disagreed.