The free assets of a household in Germany amount to only 51.4 thousand euros, while in Greece they reach 101.9 thousand euros. Contrary to popular belief, Greek families are not much larger than German families. According to Eurostat data, they consist on average of 2.6 people, while German families consist of 2.
In the eurozone countries, the wealthiest families live in Luxembourg (397.8 thousand euros with an average household size of 2.5 people), Cyprus (266.9 thousand euros, 2.8 people) and Malta (215.9 thousand euros, 2.9 people). In Spain and Italy, this figure is 182.7 thousand euros (2.7 people) and 173.5 thousand euros (2.4 people), respectively. In terms of assets, even Slovenes (100.7 thousand euros, 2.6 people) and Slovaks (61.2 thousand euros, 2.8 people) outpace Germans.
Germany ranks last not only in terms of wealth, but also in the total number of households that have any assets at all. 19.8% of them have no free assets at all – they are forced to spend all their income on current expenses, and they have no more or less significant property. In Greece, such households account for 7.8%, in Spain – 4.7%, in Cyprus – 4.2%, and in Italy only 2.3%.
Germany looks even worse in terms of real estate ownership. Only 44.2% of German households are owners of the housing in which they live. In Spain, this figure is 82.4%, in Cyprus – 76.7%, in Greece – 72.4%, in Italy 68.7%.
Publishing the results of the study, ECB experts decided to warn readers against 'hasty conclusions': 'When analyzing the presented data, it is necessary to remember that the concept of wealth in the study is limited only to private households, which are only part of the overall economic well-being of the country.' In their opinion, in countries with the poorest families, that is, for example, in Germany, people generally have wider access to public goods, so they are less interested in saving, as well as acquiring real estate and other property.
Anton NEVZLIN,
«Русская Германия».