Main findings
The wealth estimates compiled by Istat and Banca d'Italia, released today, provide a comprehensive overview of the assets held by Italy's institutional sectors and of how they have changed over time, also compared with other advanced economies.
At the end of 2023, the net wealth of Italian households stood at €11,286 billion. Compared with 2022, it increased by 4.5 per cent at nominal values and reached its highest level since 2005, the first year for which data are available. However, net wealth in real terms is still lower by more than 7 percentage points compared with 2021, due to the high inflation observed in 2022. In 2023, the increase in non-financial assets (+1.6 per cent at nominal values) was driven primarily by the rise in the value of dwellings, which recorded a marked growth over the last two years. Financial assets grew by 7.1 per cent, largely due to the upward trend in the market prices of shares, of mutual funds shares and of insurance reserves, more than recouping the capital losses measured in 2022. Households also invested greatly in debt securities, mainly those issued by general government, whereas deposits recorded their strongest reduction since 2005 (-3.2 per cent). Financial liabilities were broadly in line with those of the previous year, with a modest decline in loans offset by the increase in other accounts. At international level, in 2023, the ratio of households' net wealth to gross disposable income remained stable in Italy, Canada and Germany, while it dropped in France and the United Kingdom for the second consecutive year.
Among real assets of non-financial corporations, accounting for 56.8 per cent of their gross wealth, the value of machinery and equipment continued to grow in 2023. As regards financial instruments, the market value of the shares portfolio rose markedly, whereas deposits decreased for the first time since 2012. Overall, firms' net wealth was approximately that of 2022, reflected by the increase in both gross wealth and liabilities by a similar amount. On the liability side, the growth in the value of shares offset the fall in loans. The level of indebtedness declined slightly in Italy as well as in Germany, while it grew in France.
The contraction of financial corporations' balance sheets started in 2022 and continued in 2023, with a reduction of around 3 per cent in both assets and liabilities. On the asset side, the decline was mainly driven by deposits and loans; for liabilities, the significant drop in deposit funding was partly balanced by the rise in the value of shares, which were pushed upwards by market prices.
At the end of 2023, general government net wealth was negative by €1,432 billion, worsening when compared with the previous year. This was due, on the one hand, to the substantial growth in liabilities (+8.8 per cent), and, on the other hand, to the modest increase in gross wealth (+0.9 per cent). At international level, the Italian trend regarding the ratio of general government net wealth to GDP has been similar to that of the United Kingdom, albeit with a steeper fall in 2023. In the same year, France also recorded a strong reduction in the ratio.
Wealth of Italy's institutional sectors (a)
(billions of euros; 2023)
(a) Financial liabilities are shown with a negative sign.
Sources: Istat and Bank of Italy.
