ECB analysis shows:

This is how unequally wealth is distributed in the eurozone

Household wealth in the eurozone is still very unevenly distributed, as confirmed by a recent ECB analysis.

(Bild: thinkstockphotos.de)

According to the European Central Bank (ECB), household wealth in the eurozone is still very unevenly distributed. According to a recent analysis, the richest ten percent own around 56 percent of total net wealth. The poorer half, on the other hand, account for just five percent.

The so-called net wealth takes into account all financial and valuable assets such as property, while liabilities such as debts are deducted. According to the ECB, both richer and poorer households in the eurozone have probably suffered losses in wealth. Poorer households would have felt the impact of property prices in particular, while richer households would have suffered losses in their financial assets.

Share prices are rising rapidly
However, according to the ECB, share prices on the stock markets are rising faster than real estate prices. As a result, the net assets of the richest ten percent are also recovering faster. In Austria, almost 50,000 people are so-called dollar millionaires. 400 super-rich people even own more than a third of the country's total financial assets.

Interest rate hikes would lead to asset losses, economists wrote in their analysis on Tuesday. In June, the monetary authorities cut interest rates again for the first time. At 2.5 percent in June, inflation is once again close to the ECB's target of two percent.