The European households holding the most assets and liabilities 

The European households holding the most assets and liabilities

Household financial assets mainly comprise currency and deposits, equity and investment funds shares, and assets held with life insurance companies and pension funds. Household financial liabilities mainly comprise mortgages and other loans.

The following data come from a detailed set of non-consolidated annual financial balance sheets for the household sector (including non-profit institutions serving households) released by Eurostat.

Main statistical findings

Total financial assets of households in the European Union (EU) reached €33 529 billion in 2015. The assets mainly consisted of insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees (39.3% of all households financial assets), currency and deposits (30.3%), equity and investment fund shares (24.2%).

As for financial liabilities, they amounted to €10 208 billion in 2015, with loans making up more than 90% of the households’ total financial liabilities. Most of them were taken for house purchases (mortgages).

Household financial assets now higher than before the financial crisis

Over the past 10 years, total household financial liabilities have remained relatively stable at around 70% of GDP in the EU. However, the impact of the financial crisis is more evident in total financial assets of the EU households. They decreased from 214% of GDP in 2006 to 181% in 2008, before a recovery to 204% in 2009, and a subsequent steady increase to reach almost 230% of GDP in 2015. In other words, financial assets of households in the EU were slightly higher in GDP terms in 2015 than before the crisis.

Financial assets of EU households are more than twice the size of GDP

In terms of percentage of GDP, total financial assets and liabilities of households for the EU-28 were 227.9 % and 69.4 % respectively in 2015. Member States where households hold most total financial assets in percentage of GDP terms are the Netherlands (324.5 %), the United Kingdom (324.1 %) and Belgium (308.6 %). Member States where households hold most total financial liabilities in percentage of GDP terms are Cyprus (147.4 %), Denmark (133 %), and the Netherlands (123.9 %).

The United Kingdom, Germany and France hold the largest financial assets and liabilities

Total financial assets and liabilities of households for EU Member States whose GDP is greater than 1% of the EU-28 total were EUR 32 959.5 and EUR 10 017.5 billion respectively in 2015. Of these totals, the split by Member State is displayed in. Households in the United Kingdom hold the highest share of total assets (EUR 8 261.9 billion), followed by Germany (EUR 5 503.3 billion), and France (EUR 4 841.2 billion). Households in the Czech Republic and Romania each hold less than EUR 200 billion in total financial assets. Households with the highest total financial liabilities are in the United Kingdom (EUR 2 375.7 billion), Germany (EUR 1 638.3 billion), and France (EUR 1 437.1 billion). Households in the Czech Republic and Romania have less than EUR 60 billion each of total financial liabilities.

Total financial assets and liabilities of households for EU Member States whose GDP is less than 1% of the EU-28 total were EUR 570.3 and EUR 189.7 billion respectively in 2015.  The highest share of total financial assets is held by households in Hungary (EUR 131.2 billion), Luxembourg (EUR 71.9 billion) and Slovakia (EUR 62 billion), and the lowest by Malta (EUR 23.8 billion) and Estonia (EUR 22.6 billion). The highest share of total financial liabilities is held by households in Luxembourg and Slovakia (EUR 30 billion each), and Hungary (EUR 26.1 billion), the lowest by Latvia (EUR 6.8 billion) and Malta (EUR 6.2 billion).

Data extracted in March 2017. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Database. Planned article update: January 2018.

Read the Full statistical report HERE

Source: eurostat – Household financial assets and liabilities

---