News

Irish households added €32bn to their wealth last year

2nd November 2022

Irish households added €32 billion to their wealth last year, according to the Central Statistics Office.

That is almost the same amount added to household wealth between 2017 and 2019.

It came as average households here continued to save a significant proportion of their incomes, while wages also increased.

According to the CSO household net wealth held in financial assets stood at €366 billion at the end of last year.

This is in addition to the value of assets like housing, and compares to a figure of €318 billion at the end of 2020.

Consumers also continued to pay down debt, with the average household debt-to-income ratio falling to a record low in the year.

At 95%, it also fell below the euro area average for the first time on record.

The CSO data also shows that foreign-owned firms paid €31 billion to their workers in 2021, making up 28% of all wages and salaries.

Meanwhile there was continued growth in the country’s financial sector, with nearly €8 trillion in assets under management in the country last year.