Financial Accounts

Net wealth of the top 10% and bottom 50% of households in Slovenia and the euro area

Household wealth is unevenly distributed in the euro area, in that the top 10% wealthiest households hold more than 55% of the net wealth, while the bottom 50% hold just 5%. It is a similar picture in Slovenia, where the top 10% wealthiest households hold 50% of the net wealth, while the bottom 50% hold approximately a tenth.

Wealth inequality in Slovenia has increased by more than the euro area average since 2011. At that time the top 10% held 44% of net wealth (compared with 55% in the euro area overall).

Source: ESCB calculations

Gini coefficient of household wealth distribution in Slovenia and the euro area

The Gini coefficient also indicates that wealth equality in Slovenia is greater than in the euro area overall. Despite declining over the last seven years, it is higher than in 2011, but below the euro area average.

Source: ESCB calculations

Note: The Gini coefficient measures the concentration of household wealth. It ranges from zero to one, where a value of zero means that wealth is perfectly equally distributed (everyone has the same wealth), and a value of one represents perfectly inequal distribution (one person holds all the wealth). The closer the Gini coefficient is to one, the more unequal is the distribution.

Net wealth of top 5% of households in each country, Q3 2024

The concentration of net wealth is highest in Latvia, Croatia, Austria and Lithuania, where the wealthiest 5% of households hold more than half of total net wealth. Conversely the figure is lowest in Cyprus, Malta, Greece and the Netherlands, where it ranges from 29% to 33%. The wealthiest 5% of households in Slovenia hold 38% of net wealth, 6 percentage points less than the euro area average, which ranks it in the lowest third of euro area countries.

Source: ESCB calculations

Note: Distributional wealth accounts are available for individual euro area countries, the euro area overall, and Hungary. * Figures for the final quarter of 2023.

Concentration of instruments in Slovenia and the euro area, Q3 2024

Wealth concentration in the euro area varies according to the instrument. It is highest in business assets, bonds, equity and investment fund units, where approximately 80% of these instruments are held by the wealthiest 10% of households. By contrast, residential real estate and bank deposits are more evenly distributed: the top 10% hold 43%, while 46% is held by the next 40% of households. The picture is similar on the liability side, where the top decile account for approximately a quarter of all mortgages, and the next 40% for approximately a half.

In Slovenia the wealthiest 10% of households hold approximately 90% of bonds, equity and business assets, and 80% of investment fund units. This group holds approximately a third of all residential real estate and a fifth of all mortgages, less than the euro area average.

Source: ESCB calculations

Composition of household assets in Slovenia and the euro area, Q3 2024

The share of residential real estate and bank deposits in the household portfolio declines as you move up the wealth distribution in Slovenia and in the euro area overall, while the share of higher-risk assets increases. The bottom 50% of households in the euro area hold two-thirds of their wealth in real estate, and a quarter in bank deposits. The next 40% of households hold a slightly higher share in real estate (71%), and less in deposits (15%). The figures for the wealthiest 10% are significantly lower, at 46% and 10%, with this group holding a higher share of business assets and other financial wealth. There is a similar composition of wealth in Slovenia, where real estate accounts for fully 80% of the assets of the bottom 90% of households.

Source: ESCB calculations

Debt-to-asset ratio across net wealth deciles of households in Slovenia and the euro area

The bottom half of households in the euro area have deleveraged in particular over the last decade: their leverage as measured by the debt-to-asset ratio declined to approximately 40%. It is still significantly higher than the figures recorded by wealthier households, where leverage remains at around 6% (top 10% of households) and 13% (next 40%).

The leverage of the bottom half of households has also declined notably in Slovenia compared with 2014. It fell below 20% last year, significantly less than the euro area average. The indebtedness of the top half of households remains significantly lower, and has been broadly unchanged in recent years. Their leverage ranges from 2% (top 10% of households) to 6% (next 40%).

Source: ESCB calculations

The distributional wealth accounts (DWA) that we have developed within the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) illustrate the distribution of household wealth in individual countries and in the euro area overall. They combine macro and micro data sources, namely the quarterly sector accounts (QSA) and the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). They were first published in January 2024.

Source: ECB

The DWA dataset contains data on households’ financial and non-financial assets, liabilities and net wealth. Households are divided into net wealth deciles, and also according to their housing and employment status. The dataset also contains certain indicators of wealth inequality, such as the Gini coefficient, the share of net wealth accounted for by the top 5%, 10% and 50% of households, the mean and median net wealth, and the debt-to-asset ratio across net wealth deciles. The data is quarterly, is available for the entire euro area from the first quarter of 2009, and is released within five months of the end of each period. It is classed as experimental, as it meets the majority of the quality conditions for official ECB statistics, but is reliable enough for use. It is accessible on this link, while more information about the methodology can be found on the ECB website.

Source: ECB