Irish household wealth reaches a new record of €1,247bn

Wealth inequality has fallen but wealthiest 10% of Irish households own 49.1% of total household wealth

Housing assets represent 59.5% of the total assets of Irish households. Picture: Denis Minihane

The net wealth of Irish households reached a new record of €1,247bn at the end of 2024, increasing by €43bn since the previous quarter.

New data from the Central Bank shows the total housing wealth increased by €28.3bn to reach €839.7bn. Housing assets represent 59.5% of the total assets of Irish households.

Total liabilities, mainly consisting of long-term loans, amounted to €163.6bn, largely unchanged from the third quarter of 2024.

Financial assets equalled €570.4bn, reflecting an increase of €14.9bn over the quarter. They were mainly composed of currency and deposits (€208.5bn) and insurance and pension entitlements (€271.5bn).

The Central Bank said the data shows the wealthiest 10% of Irish households owned €648.9bn, or 49.1% of total household net wealth in the country. This is more than five times the amount held by households in the bottom half of the net wealth distribution altogether (€115.1bn, or 8.7%). 

Since the beginning of the series in 2013, however, the proportion of wealth held by the poorest half of households followed an upward trend, highlighting decreasing wealth inequality in the country.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The Irish Gini coefficient, a widely used measurement of wealth inequality, was 65.0, marginally decreasing from the previous quarter. This remained well below the value of the same index for the euro area as a whole (72.4) and of most other European countries, as it has been for the past years.

Net wealth inequality in Ireland has significantly decreased since 2013, largely due to the rise in the value of housing assets, which mainly benefited households for whom this asset represents a larger component of their total wealth.