Bank of Italy

At the end of 2011 the net wealth of Italian households amounted to about €8,619 billion, corresponding to just over €140,000 per capita and €350,000 per household.

Real assets made up 62.8 per cent and financial assets 37.2 per cent of total assets. Financial liabilities, which amounted to €900 billion, were equal to 9.5 per cent of total assets.

During 2011 total net wealth at current prices diminished by 0.7 per cent; the increase in real assets (1.3 per cent) was more than offset by a decrease in financial assets (3.4 per cent) and an increase in liabilities (2.1 per cent). In real terms, deflated by the consumption deflat or, net wealth fell by 3.4 per cent. The aggregate has contracted by 5.8 per cent overall since reaching its peak at the end of 2007.

Italian household wealth in the form of housing at the end of 2011 was estimated at just over €5,000 billion, up by 1.3 per cent in nominal terms but down by 1.4 per cent in real terms compared with the end of 2010.

According to preliminary estimates, in the first half of 2012 Italian households’ net wealth diminished by a further 0.5 per cent in nominal terms compared with the end of December 2011.

By international standards Italian households have a high level of net wealth: in 2010 it was equal to 8 times disposable income, compared with a factor of 8.2 in the United Kingdom, 8.1 in France, 7.8 in Japan, 5.5 in Canada and 5.3 in the United States. They also have relatively little debt: household debt is equal to 71 per cent of disposable income in Italy, compared with about 100 per cent in France and Germany, 125 per cent in Japan, 150 per cent in Canada and 165 per cent in the United Kingdom.

Household Wealth in Italy in 2011Supplements to the Statistical Bulletin - Monetary and Financial Indicators