Wealth in retirement varies dramatically across Europe, shaping living standards well beyond what pension income alone can provide.
In some countries, older households hold more than 30 times as much wealth as those in others, highlighting how housing, pensions and family support can shape financial security later in life.
So, which countries have the wealthiest over-65s?
The European Central Bank’s Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), published in mid-2023, provides comparative data on the wealth of older people.
In the euro area, households aged 65-74 have a median net wealth of €185,300. Among 22 European countries, this ranges from €36,300 in Latvia to €1,219,500 in Luxembourg. (For comparison purposes, wealth figures are shown in euros, including in non-eurozone countries.)
Luxembourg is a clear outlier. The next highest figure, in Malta, is €310,000.
Belgium and Ireland lead, ahead of France and Germany
Excluding these two countries with the smallest populations in the EU, older households in Belgium and Ireland are the wealthiest. The median net wealth for 65-74-year-old households is €307,700 in Belgium. Ireland is also close to the €300,000 level at €296,700.
France ranks fifth with €232,800, closely followed by Germany at €232,100. In Spain, the median net wealth for this age group is €200,800.
Among the EU’s four largest economies, Italy has the lowest figure at €168,000, meaning people at retirement age in France and Germany hold over €60,000 more wealth than those in Italy.
Austria (€188,500) is just above the euro area average, while Finland (€176,100) is just below it.
Netherlands among countries below average
The Netherlands (€134,400) stands out as a country with relatively modest household wealth among over-65s despite its highly rated pension system, underlining that strong retirement incomes do not always translate into high levels of private wealth.
At the same time, Slovenia (€138,200), Greece (€104,300), Czechia (€102,900) and Slovakia (€100,800) are also well below the average.
At the bottom of the list, in addition to Latvia, five more countries have a median net wealth of under €100,000 for 65-74-year-old households: Lithuania (€51,400), Hungary (€54,400), Estonia (€73,500), Croatia (€75,900) and Portugal (€99,200).
The median net wealth for households aged 75 and over in the euro area is €144,400, which is €40,900, or 22%, lower than for 65-74-year-olds.
In almost every country surveyed, median wealth is lower among households aged 75 and over than among those aged 65-74. Luxembourg and Belgium are the only exceptions.
In Austria, it is 51% lower, and in Germany 44% lower. In France, it is just 14% lower.
Drivers of cross-country differences
The HFCS department recalled in a previous report that differences in income, household composition, homeownership, leverage to buy property and house prices are among the main factors behind cross-country variations in net wealth.
Individual saving behaviour and long-term interaction
“These cross-national differences are a reminder that wealth is never just the result of individual saving behaviour, ” said Prof Fabian Pfeffer from LMU Munich and founding director of the Munich International Stone Center for Inequality Research.
“They reflect the long-term interaction of housing markets, welfare states, pension systems, credit institutions, family transfers and historical pathways into asset ownership,” he added.
Role of home ownership
He noted that these figures show how differently European societies have organised the accumulation of private wealth. For many households, the home is their most important asset.
“Where older households had broad access to homeownership and benefited from rising property values, median net wealth will tend to look much higher. Where renting has been more common, private net wealth may look lower, even if older people are protected in other ways,” he added.
Fabian Pfeffer explained that Germany and Austria, for example, often look less wealthy in household net wealth data, partly because a larger share of households rent.
“That does not automatically mean that older renters are poor. But it does mean that less of their economic security appears as private wealth in household balance sheets,” he said.
Public pensions are not included
The net wealth data does not include the present value of public or occupational pension entitlements. Pfeffer emphasised that pension entitlements are among the most important economic resources for many older people.
“A generous public pension system can reduce the need to accumulate large private assets for retirement. In that sense, lower private wealth among older households may sometimes reflect a stronger welfare state rather than weaker economic security,” he said.
Family wealth matters, too
Toby Whelton, senior researcher at the Intergenerational Foundation, emphasised that the role of family wealth has also become increasingly important.
As access to housing and asset ownership becomes more difficult through earnings alone, financial assistance from parents and grandparents can play a growing role in determining who is able to accumulate wealth at a younger age.
“This raises concerns about equality of opportunity because economic outcomes become increasingly influenced by family background rather than individual effort,” he told Euronews Business.
What is net wealth?
Net wealth is the difference between total household assets and total household liabilities. Total assets include:
Real assets: the value of the household’s main residence for homeowners, other real estate properties, vehicles, valuables such as jewellery, works of art and antiques, and the value of self-employment businesses.
Financial assets: deposits (sight and savings accounts), mutual funds, bonds, shares, money owed to the household, the value of voluntary pension plans and whole life insurance policies held by household members, and other financial assets.
Total liabilities include mortgages collateralised against the household’s main residence and other real estate owned by the household, non-mortgage loans (including consumer credit loans, private loans and other loans, bank overdrafts and credit card debt.