Household Wealth in Italy in 2009Supplements to the Statistical Bulletin - Monetary and Financial Indicators

  • At the end of 2009 the gross wealth of Italian households was estimated at €9,448 billion and their net wealth at €8,600 billion, corresponding to about €350,000 per household. Real assets accounted for 62.3 per cent of gross wealth and financial assets for 37.7 per cent. Financial liabilities, which amounted to €860 billion, were equal to 9.1 per cent of total assets.
  • Total net wealth grew by about 1.1 per cent in 2009, owing to an increase of 2.4 per cent in the value of financial assets, outs tripping the 1.6 per cent rise in liabilities. Real assets increased more modestly, by 0.4 per cent. At constant prices, deflated by the consumption deflator, total wealth increased by 1.3 per cent.
  • At the end of 2009 wealth in the form of housing was estimated at 4,800 billion, with an increase of 0.4 per cent in real terms since the end of 2008.
  • According to preliminary estimates, household wealth diminished by 0.3 per cent in the first half of 2010 in nominal terms, owing to a decrease in financial assets and an increase in liabilities, more than offsetting the rise in the value of real assets.
  • Recent studies put Italian households’ share of global net wealth at 5.7 per cent, larger than the country’s share of world GDP (3 per cent) or population (1.1 per cent).
  • By international standards Italian households have relatively little debt. Household debt is equal to about 78 per cent of disposable income, compared with 100 per cent in France and Germany and 130 percent in the United States and Japan.

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