The new data from the Bank of Italy updated to the first quarter of 2026 show how much the average can hide asset differences: the richest 10% holds 60.4% of net wealth, while the less well-off half have just 7.3%. In three months, total assets fell by over 38 billion, but remained 424 billion higher than a year earlier.
The average wealth of an Italian family exceeds 450 thousand euros, but half of the families own less than 178 thousand euros. This is the photograph that emerges from the new distribution accounts on household wealth published by the Bank of Italy and updated to the first quarter of 2026.
The statistics, developed within the European System of Central Banks, combine asset accounts and household budget surveys. They therefore allow us to understand not only how much wealth Italians possess, but also how it is distributed.
In the first quarter, the average net wealth per family was 450,767 euros, slightly down from 452,297 euros at the end of 2025. The median, i.e. the value that divides families exactly in half between those who own more and those who own less, is, however, 178,262 euros: half of the families are below this figure and half above.
Because the mean and median are so far apart
The distance between 451 thousand and 178 thousand euros is one of the most immediate indicators of asset concentration. The average is pushed upwards by very high assets. The median, however, indicates the central point of the distribution.
The richest 10% owns 60.41% of Italian net wealth. The less well-off half is left with 7.27%.
Compared to the end of 2025, the gap barely improves: the share of the richest 10% was 60.57%, that of the least rich 50% was 7.25%. Even the Gini index, the indicator that measures how unequally distributed wealth is – the higher it is, the greater the concentration -, drops slightly from 72.19 to 72.09. However, it is too small a movement to speak of a structural change.
How much the rich and less well-off really own
A family belonging to the richest 10% has on average around 2.72 million euros in net assets. For a family from the less wealthy half the average is around 65,600 euros.
The ratio therefore exceeds 41 to one.
The data does not indicate the threshold necessary to enter the richest 10%, but it highlights the average distance between the two groups and explains why the national average wealth is so far from that of the “central” family.
Italians’ assets lose 38 billion in three months
Overall, the net wealth of Italian families amounts to approximately 11,295 billion euros, adding real estate and financial assets and subtracting debts.
At the end of 2025 it was equal to 11,333 billion: in three months the decrease was approximately 38.4 billion, 0.34%.
Compared to a year earlier, however, the picture remains positive. In the first quarter of 2025, net wealth was approximately 10,870 billion: in twelve months it therefore increased by over 424 billion, almost 4%.
In the quarter, the value of homes rose from 5,591 to approximately 5,607 billion, while shares and investment funds fell overall from approximately 2,930 to 2,875 billion.
Home and deposits for those with less, investments for those with more
The difference does not only concern how much wealth families own, but also how it is composed.
For the less well-off half, approximately 73.6% of assets are represented by housing and 17.5% by deposits. In the richest 10%, the house accounts for 30.7%, while shares, equity investments and fund units total 37.6%.
The difference matters: those who concentrate almost everything in the house depend, above all, on the real estate trend; those who have a more diversified portfolio can benefit more from rises in the financial markets, but are also more exposed to their fluctuations.
In 15 years the richest 10% went from 52% to 60%
The small improvement in the last quarter does not erase the long-term trend.
At the end of 2010, the richest 10% held approximately 52% of Italian wealth. Today the share exceeds 60%. In the same period, the lower half fell from 8.5% to 7.3%, while the Gini index rose from 66.4 to 72.1 points.
The new data shows that in the first quarter of 2026 the concentration eases slightly, but remains very high.
The final photograph is, therefore, double: Italians have a total of more than 11 thousand billion in assets and wealth has increased compared to a year ago, but the average figure of 451 thousand euros does not describe the situation of the majority.
To really understand how rich an Italian family is, the number to look at is above all the median: 178 thousand euros. It is the distance between those 178 thousand and the average 451 thousand that tells how concentrated the heritage remains.
