It is no secret that people in Belgium are well off, generally speaking.
When it comes to median wealth, households in Belgium are remarkably better off than many other Europeans. Last year, the country took first place in a global ranking of median wealth with €228,594 per adult – meaning half of Belgians have more than this amount in wealth assets and the other half less.
More recently, another study found this figure to be even higher: the wealth of the median Belgian household – including money in the bank account, property, car and possible businesses they own – is €249,301. This figure is almost twice as high as the European median (€123,500 in 2021).
The researchers used the median (and not the average) as a benchmark because "the largest assets pull the average upwards, creating large differences in the distribution of wealth."
When looking at the average wealth in Belgium, the figure lands at €437,273 – almost €200,000 more than the median wealth, showing that the country's wealth is not distributed normally.
While more than 2 million people in Belgium live in poverty or are financially insecure, the wealthiest 10% of Belgian households own 55% of the country’s net wealth.
Do you want to know more about how wealth is distributed in Belgium? Read all about it in the full article.
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