Average wealth - UK compared to Europe/US
Discussion
Given the doom and gloom in the media and on PH the link below surprised me.
Europe’s wealth divide mapped: Where are adults richest and poorest?
Basically it seems to say that adults in the UK are 4th in terms of median wealth and 8th in terms of average wealth when compared with other European countries and the US.
One factor that's missing is cost of living I suppose. is there anything else that's being ignored? Or are things really not that bad?
Europe’s wealth divide mapped: Where are adults richest and poorest?
Basically it seems to say that adults in the UK are 4th in terms of median wealth and 8th in terms of average wealth when compared with other European countries and the US.
One factor that's missing is cost of living I suppose. is there anything else that's being ignored? Or are things really not that bad?
One thing that would distort that measure is the private pension sector in the UK.
Despite all the moans about greedy boomers with their triple lock we have a low state pension that has to be supplemented by a private pension. The value of this would distort comparisons with other European countries.
Despite all the moans about greedy boomers with their triple lock we have a low state pension that has to be supplemented by a private pension. The value of this would distort comparisons with other European countries.
lizardbrain said:
There are lots of wealthy people in the UK. It s just not very well distributed. And most of them sit in their arse all day
And yet, if you read the follow up article quoted in the original one - in terms of wealth inequality, the UK isn't particular inequal in Europe at all. https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/12/wealt...
Incredibly, all of the Scandinavian equal societies we look up to, appear to have a more inequal distribution of wealth than we do.....
bodhi said:
And yet, if you read the follow up article quoted in the original one - in terms of wealth inequality, the UK isn't particular inequal in Europe at all.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/12/wealt...
Incredibly, all of the Scandinavian equal societies we look up to, appear to have a more inequal distribution of wealth than we do.....
Do we look up to them for their perceived egalitarianism? It's a genuine question; any time they're referenced here, it seems to be in relation the perceived quality of life, provision of public services and the like.https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/12/wealt...
Incredibly, all of the Scandinavian equal societies we look up to, appear to have a more inequal distribution of wealth than we do.....
Yes I think a lot of wealth in the UK is in property….that was a great trade from the early 90’s to the late 2000’s. Been fairly awful certainly in the London/South East for the last ten year’s. Given the economic prospects I’d say the wealthy are being more conservative in their spending and given the outlook for the property market I’d expect the UK to slip lower in that table.
Countdown said:
lizardbrain said:
There are lots of wealthy people in the UK. It s just not very well distributed. And most of them sit in their arse all day
I thought that would be accounted for under the "Median" wealth category. That's the one where we're 4th.Elon versus everyone else, hypothetical scenario;
Someone has $800bn, everyone else has $1. The average over 200 million people is $4001.
Someone has $800bn, everyone else has $1. The median over 200 million people is $1.
When you have that sort of distribution of wealth, averages don't convey the typical experience very well.
Countdown said:
Basically it seems to say that adults in the UK are 4th in terms of median wealth and 8th in terms of average wealth when compared with other European countries and the US.
One factor that's missing is cost of living I suppose. is there anything else that's being ignored? Or are things really not that bad?
That's UBS 2024 data.One factor that's missing is cost of living I suppose. is there anything else that's being ignored? Or are things really not that bad?
Guess what happened by the time UBS released their 2025 report. 8th and 13th.
And now we're in 2026.
Gah, I hate bad reporting of statistics, "Average and median wealth per adult varies widely across Europe" Median is an average, presumably they mean Mean, muppets.
It's also meaningless without taking in to account the cost of living. eg various estimates put the sot of living in the Netherlands between 2% and 12% higher than then UK, so on those figures you might be better off in the UK, or you might be better off in NL.
It does however highlight the level of inequality in the US with the mean 5 times the median!
It's also meaningless without taking in to account the cost of living. eg various estimates put the sot of living in the Netherlands between 2% and 12% higher than then UK, so on those figures you might be better off in the UK, or you might be better off in NL.
It does however highlight the level of inequality in the US with the mean 5 times the median!
iphonedyou said:
bodhi said:
And yet, if you read the follow up article quoted in the original one - in terms of wealth inequality, the UK isn't particular inequal in Europe at all.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/12/wealt...
Incredibly, all of the Scandinavian equal societies we look up to, appear to have a more inequal distribution of wealth than we do.....
Do we look up to them for their perceived egalitarianism? It's a genuine question; any time they're referenced here, it seems to be in relation the perceived quality of life, provision of public services and the like.https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/12/wealt...
Incredibly, all of the Scandinavian equal societies we look up to, appear to have a more inequal distribution of wealth than we do.....
bodhi said:
iphonedyou said:
bodhi said:
And yet, if you read the follow up article quoted in the original one - in terms of wealth inequality, the UK isn't particular inequal in Europe at all.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/12/wealt...
Incredibly, all of the Scandinavian equal societies we look up to, appear to have a more inequal distribution of wealth than we do.....
Do we look up to them for their perceived egalitarianism? It's a genuine question; any time they're referenced here, it seems to be in relation the perceived quality of life, provision of public services and the like.https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/12/wealt...
Incredibly, all of the Scandinavian equal societies we look up to, appear to have a more inequal distribution of wealth than we do.....
RizzoTheRat said:
Gah, I hate bad reporting of statistics, "Average and median wealth per adult varies widely across Europe" Median is an average, presumably they mean Mean, muppets.
It's also meaningless without taking in to account the cost of living. eg various estimates put the sot of living in the Netherlands between 2% and 12% higher than then UK, so on those figures you might be better off in the UK, or you might be better off in NL.
It does however highlight the level of inequality in the US with the mean 5 times the median!
Median is the 50/50 split point in the datasetIt's also meaningless without taking in to account the cost of living. eg various estimates put the sot of living in the Netherlands between 2% and 12% higher than then UK, so on those figures you might be better off in the UK, or you might be better off in NL.
It does however highlight the level of inequality in the US with the mean 5 times the median!
M.
CraigyMc said:
Does Norway still have the thing where you can look up the income of your neighbours? (I think they are notified it's you doing it). Part of the egality is transparency on income source/volume.
They do as far as I'm aware - my brother in law is from Oslo but lives over here - things like that and Jante were the reasons he gave for preferring it over here. Social care may not be quite the same, but he finds it less suffocating living somewhere where his neighbours don't really care how well he's doing for himself...I m sure there s a very simple explanation for Australia s numbers there. Could someone explain that to the group, please?
Having bothered to read the tables (poor form but I am working!) someone s going to have to hold my hand through a discussion about the average wealth per adult in Germany relative to Denmark, or Ireland, or Japan or tbh I m obviously just being a bit thick today.
(I have family in the US, Denmark, Japan and Oz, while my wife’s Irish. It makes for curious reading).
Having bothered to read the tables (poor form but I am working!) someone s going to have to hold my hand through a discussion about the average wealth per adult in Germany relative to Denmark, or Ireland, or Japan or tbh I m obviously just being a bit thick today.
(I have family in the US, Denmark, Japan and Oz, while my wife’s Irish. It makes for curious reading).
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