Wealth inequality across Europe is clear. People in some countries are much richer than others. Wealth per adult shows a strong divide between richer and poorer nations.
So, which countries are the richest and which are the poorest in Europe? Where do people have the highest levels of wealth?
Net worth, or ‘wealth’, is the total value of what a household owns minus what it owes. It includes financial assets and real assets, mainly housing. Then debts are subtracted from that total.
According to the Global Wealth Report 2025 by UBS, and additional data shared with Euronews, average wealth per adult in 2024 varied widely across 31 European countries. It ranged from €29,923 in Turkey to €634,584 in Switzerland.
Within the EU, the gap was slightly smaller, but still substantial. The average wealth per adult ranged from €44,568 in Romania to €523,591 in Luxembourg.
Switzerland and Luxembourg are the only two countries with average wealth per adult above €500,000. Denmark ranks third with €444,898.
UK richest among top economies
Average wealth is also above €300,000 in the Netherlands (€342,477), Norway (€340,364), Belgium (€322,805), the United Kingdom (€313,840) and Sweden (€308,935).
This makes the UK the richest among Europe’s five largest economies, while Italy has the lowest average wealth among them, at €198,321. The figure is €278,550 in France, €237,172 in Germany and €215,945 in Spain.
Over a third below €100,000
More than a third of countries have average wealth per adult below €100,000. These include Latvia (€91,783), Czechia (€86,791), Croatia (€76,358), Estonia (€72,276), Lithuania (€63,189), Slovakia (€58,573), Poland (€56,159), Hungary (€55,276), Bulgaria (€47,798), Romania (€44,568) and Turkey (€29,923).
A different picture in median wealth
The report warns that both average and median wealth per adult have limits. Each can give very different results. Median is the exact middle value in a population’s wealth distribution.
“Average figures are often skewed upwards by relatively few individuals with disproportionately high wealth, while median figures tend to offer a keener insight into wealth levels in the middle of the scale,” the report says.
In every country, median wealth is lower than average wealth. In some cases, the gap is very large. For example, in Switzerland, it falls from €634,584 to €168,374.
Median wealth per adult ranges from €7,765 in Turkey to €365,244 in Luxembourg. Within the EU, it ranges from €22,257 in Poland to €365,244 in Luxembourg.
Belgium ranks second with €234,238. It is followed by Denmark (€199,647), Switzerland (€168,374) and the United Kingdom (€162,944).
Median wealth is also above €100,000 in France (€134,901), Norway (€131,653), the Netherlands (€121,855), Spain (€116,676), Italy (€114,988) and Malta (€111,673).
Among the major economies, the United Kingdom still has the highest median wealth while Germany has the lowest at €69,949.
The median wealth per adult is lower than €50,000 in several countries. They are mostly Eastern European countries.
Change in rankings: Average vs median
The rankings change a lot when median wealth is used instead of average wealth. Germany, Sweden, Austria and Czechia each drop six places in the median ranking. They rank higher when average wealth is used. Germany falls from 11th in average wealth to 17th in median wealth.
In contrast, Malta gained six places, rising from 17th to 11th. Belgium, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, France and the United Kingdom also rank higher in median wealth than in average wealth.
Clear West/North vs East divide
These figures show clear wealth gaps across Europe. People in Western and Northern Europe have higher average wealth. In Eastern Europe, wealth is much lower.
Financial hubs such as Switzerland and Luxembourg lead the ranking. The Nordic countries also perform strongly, but not evenly. Finland sits closer to the middle of the table.
The gap between the richest and poorest countries is more than 20 times across Europe. Within the EU, the difference is more than 10 times.
The overall gap in median wealth is narrower across most countries. However, this is not the case for the highest and lowest figures. The difference is more than 45 times across Europe and more than 15 times within the EU.
Wealth inequality within a country is a different issue. It shows how wealth is shared among people. It is usually measured by the Gini index. Euronews’ article titled ‘Wealth inequality across Europe: Which countries have the most unfair distribution?’ takes a close look at this.
