According to a study comparing the average wealth of people in the richest countries, the French are among the top 10 richest people in the world. They rank ahead of the Germans, the British and the Italians, according to a report by Allianz.
While inflation and declining purchasing power have made the French feel like they have less and less money, a report shows that they are still among the richest in the world. Allianz’s Wealth Report 2024 compares the average wealth of the world’s richest people in 2023, and France ranks 10th, three places above last year’s report. Taking into account financial assets (passbook investments, life insurance, savings plans, shares, etc.) and real estate assets (excluding debt), the French have an average total wealth of €214,980.
In Europe, the French rank behind the Danes (276,130 euros), the Dutch (274,100 euros) and the Belgians (268,100 euros), but ahead of the Germans (201,240 euros), the British (200,970 euros), the Italians (182,710 euros) and the Spanish (181,310 euros). On the other hand, the richest people in the world are not in Europe. They are the Swiss (577,910 euros), the Americans (439,740 euros) and the Australians (365,830 euros).
A global wealth that hides great disparities
This average wealth of the French does not mean that all French people are rich. On the contrary, there are great disparities between the inhabitants. While some have barely enough to live on at the end of the month, others are among the richest in the world. This is particularly the case of Bernard Arnault, who is the 2nd richest man in the world with a wealth of 185.2 billion euros. According to the annual ranking of Challenges, the 500 richest French people together have a combined wealth of 1,228 billion euros.
