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The Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), carried out in 2018, is a household survey that collects detailed information on household assets and liabilities. As well as other indicators, the survey measures household net wealth by region and tenure status. It also measures net wealth decile thresholds which give an indication of the amount of net wealth required to be in the top or bottom ten percent of households in terms of wealth. Statistics on the inter-generational transfer of wealth are also included.
Median Net Wealth
The median net wealth value, (defined as gross wealth less debt), is obtained by arranging all households in ascending order from the smallest to the largest value and then selecting the middle value.
Net Wealth Thresholds
The net wealth decile groups are ten equal-sized groups of households, each group containing 10% of households. The first (bottom) decile contains the tenth of households with the lowest net household wealth, whereas the tenth (top) decile contains the tenth of households with the highest net household wealth.
| Table 10.1 Net wealth decile threshold limits, 2018 | ||||||||||
| Net Wealth Decile | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Net Wealth Threshold (€,000) | <1 | <11 | <56 | <115 | <178 | <251 | <338 | <499 | <827 | >827 |
| Source: CSO | ||||||||||
Net Wealth by Region
Household median net wealth is highest in the Eastern & Midlands region at €205,600, compared to €187,500 in the Southern region and €139,900 in the Northern & Western region.
Net Wealth by Tenure Status
Median net wealth for owner occupied households is €287,800, significantly higher than the €6,500 value for rented households.
| Table 10.2 Gross and net wealth by demographic and household characteristics | |||||
| Median gross wealth | Mean gross wealth | Median net wealth | Mean net wealth | Share of total net wealth | |
| €000's | €000's | €000's | €000's | % | |
| State | 235.9 | 419.7 | 178.4 | 356.6 | 100.0 |
| Northern and Western | 175.1 | 293.8 | 139.9 | 259.3 | 13.1 |
| Southern | 230.0 | 389.1 | 187.5 | 341.9 | 32.1 |
| Eastern and Midland | 291.8 | 487.2 | 205.6 | 402.6 | 54.9 |
| Household Composition | |||||
| 1 adult aged 65+ | 200.8 | 325.8 | 200.7 | 324.6 | 11.4 |
| 1 adult aged <65 | 119.7 | 259.0 | 73.7 | 222.2 | 8.5 |
| 2 adults, at least 1 aged 65+ | 333.6 | 547.1 | 330.4 | 528.4 | 17.2 |
| 2 adults, both aged <65 | 226.3 | 377.9 | 150.1 | 321.6 | 13.5 |
| 3 or more adults | 303.9 | 523.8 | 263.1 | 485.0 | 15.7 |
| 1 adult with children aged under 18 | 13.2 | 111.9 | 5.2 | 68.7 | 1.0 |
| 2 adults with 1-3 children aged under 18 | 268.2 | 420.6 | 136.8 | 310.1 | 18.4 |
| Other households with children aged under 18 | 342.2 | 720.2 | 255.2 | 537.9 | 14.3 |
| Age of Reference Person | |||||
| Under 35 | 17.5 | 126.4 | 14.6 | 88.5 | 3.8 |
| 35-44 | 224.0 | 344.1 | 94.2 | 239.1 | 15.2 |
| 45-54 | 319.6 | 506.1 | 252.1 | 419.8 | 23.5 |
| 55-64 | 332.7 | 664.8 | 293.2 | 584.8 | 28.3 |
| 65+ | 258.1 | 429.9 | 256.0 | 419.8 | 29.2 |
| Tenure Status | |||||
| Owner-occupied | 355.6 | 583.7 | 287.8 | 496.6 | 95.8 |
| Rented or rent free | 9.1 | 58.4 | 6.5 | 48.3 | 4.2 |
| Source: CSO | |||||
One in ten (10%) households in the first decile said they had never received a substantial gift or inheritance, compared to almost 67% of households in the top decile.
Property and another substantial asset were received by 6.9% of households in the top decile, an additional 29.4% received property only and just over 30% received a substantial asset that was not property (e.g. money).
| % of households that received non-property only | % of households that received property and non-property | % of households that received property only | |
| 1 | 9.7 | 0 | 0.338 |
| 2 | 8.4 | 0 | 1.6 |
| 3 | 11.6 | 0.7 | 3.5 |
| 4 | 14.4 | 0.2 | 18.1 |
| 5 | 12 | 0.8 | 16.4 |
| 6 | 11.2 | 0.7 | 15.8 |
| 7 | 21.5 | 3.2 | 13.7 |
| 8 | 24.4 | 1.8 | 14.3 |
| 9 | 25.5 | 4.2 | 25.6 |
| 10 | 30.5 | 6.9 | 29.4 |
Interactive tables: StatBank
Link to publication: Household Finance and Consumption Survey
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