At the end of 2025, the net worth of Italian families amounted to a total of 11,333 billion euros. In Germany the value reached 19,867 billion, in France 14,054 billion and in Spain 8,484 billion. In the same year, the net wealth of the entire euro area stood at 68,521 billion. The gap emerges above all when observing the evolution over ten years. From 2015 to 2025, the assets of Italian families grew by 22.8%, while in Germany the increase was 87.3%, in France 42% and in Spain 56.6%. The consequence was a decrease in the Italian contribution to the overall wealth of the Eurozone: the share held by families in our country went from 21.7% in 2015 to 16.5% in 2025.
For further information: Money, 56% of Italians have saved in 2026. Home preferred investment, but decreasing
Of the 2,107 billion euros of overall increase recorded in Italy over the decade, approximately 937 billion, equal to 45%, are attributable to unlisted shares and other corporate shareholdings. This component increased by 102.7% and was almost entirely owned, 98.3%, by the 10% of the richest families. Furthermore, the increase was not distributed uniformly over the period considered: a substantial part of the growth was concentrated between 2020 and 2025.
For further information: Record number of new millionaires in 2025: data from the Global Wealth Report 2026
The lower expansion of assets is also linked to the weak growth of families' disposable income. Between 2015 and 2025 the Italian gross one rose from 1,132.8 to 1,455 billion euros, with an overall increase of 28.4%. In the same ten years, however, Germany recorded growth of 48.3%, France of 41.1% and Spain of 53.8%. Also in this case the Italian increase was concentrated above all in the second half of the period, starting from 2020.
The more limited growth in incomes is also reflected in the ability of families to put money aside. In 2015, Italians' gross savings amounted to 125.7 billion euros; ten years later it had reached 161.1 billion, with a variation of 28.2%. The increase is much more significant in the other large European countries: +64.4% in Germany, +80.7% in France and +134.2% in Spain. In 2025, the gross savings rate of Italian families stopped at 10.7%, the lowest value among the main countries considered and below the Eurozone average, equal to 14.32%. In Germany the figure reaches 19.2%, in France 17.2% and in Spain 11.9%.
The real estate market also contributed to the distance compared to other European economies. However, the house remains a central component of Italians' assets: according to Istat, approximately 74% of families live in their own home. Real estate represents 46% of the total gross wealth of Italian families, compared to 56.9% of the euro area average. The price trend also shows more limited growth. Setting the 2015 value at 100, in 2025 the Italian house price index, calculated on the basis of sales, reached 116.1. In the same period the Eurozone reached 153.7, with Germany at 152.7, France at 127.3 and Spain at 180.6.
In the face of overall weaker growth, the distribution of assets has become progressively more unbalanced. In 2010, the 10% of the richest families owned 52% of Italian net wealth. Fifteen years later the share rose to 60.6%. The variation recorded at the top of the distribution was even greater. The wealthiest 5% went from holding 39.9% of national wealth in 2010 to 50.2% in 2025, with an increase of more than ten percentage points. This is the highest share in the Eurozone, except for Austria and Latvia.
The distribution of financial assets highlights strong differences between segments of the population. The richest 10% own 43.4% of deposits, 76.7% of debt securities, 93.3% of listed shares, 82.5% of mutual funds, 76.9% of life insurance and 98.3% of unlisted shares and other equity investments. Concentration is therefore particularly high in financial investments. On the contrary, the five least well-off deciles hold 37.9% of the total debt. For the poorest decile, the ratio between debt and gross wealth reaches 95.6%, however below the values recorded in most of the Eurozone, where the wealth of the same group is negative.
Overall, Italian household indebtedness amounted to 804.7 billion euros in 2025, equal to 10.2% of the overall Eurozone debt, which reached 7,927.7 billion. The Italian share is lower than that of Germany and France, at 27.4% and 22.2% respectively, while Spain stands at 9.1%. Even compared to the past, Italy's weight has reduced: in 2015 it represented 11.1% of the total euro area.
According to the general secretary of the CISL, Daniela Fumarola, Italian wealth has progressively concentrated: today the richest 5%, around 1.3 million families, own 50%, compared to 40% in 2010, while the less well-off half have just over 7%. For Riccardo Colombani, national general secretary of First Cisl, without lasting growth in GDP and wages the gap risks increasing. The union therefore proposes an income policy to strengthen the economic value of work and a national fund to support the real economy, with public guarantees, limits on the sums and duration of investments and management entrusted to the direction of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.
For further information: Italian family wealth at 6,500 billion, plus investments and insurance. The report
