Private household assets reach record high in Germany

Germany’s private households were richer than ever at the end of 2024, figures published by the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) have revealed, but assets are far from distributed equally.

Bundesbank releases figures on German household assets

In the final quarter of last year, Germany’s private households owned 9.050 billion euros worth of assets, 136 billion euros more than in the third quarter. When the Bundesbank deducted money for debts and adjusted the final figure for inflation, it found that Germany’s private households’ wealth still increased by 132 billion euros between the third and fourth quarter of 2024.

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.

More than a third of private household assets (3,406 billion euros) exist in current and savings accounts, common assets among households with a middle or low income. Around 20 percent of private assets (1.693 billion euros) are invested in shares and equity.

Half of asset wealth belongs to 10 percent of households

While Germany’s 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.

This is because it is easier for already wealthy households to sustain wealth, rather than for middle and low-income households to acquire assets. The more that is invested in an asset, the faster it grows.

According to the Bundesbank, “wealth inequality [in Germany] decreased slightly between 2009 and 2021, but remains high overall”. As evidenced by Oxfam’s annual wealth inequality report, this is the case globally. 

The charity’s 2025 report, titled “Takers Not Makers”, found that the world’s billionaires saw their assets grow by a total of two trillion US dollars in 2024, three times faster than in 2023. Meanwhile, 44 percent of the world’s population lives below the World Bank poverty line (6,85 dollars per day), around the same percentage as in 1990.