The figures by age
Every few years, Germany’s central bank surveys about 4,000 households on their wealth in its study “Private households and their finances”. The latest survey ran from May 2023 to February 2024 and was published in April 2025. Age refers to the household member with the highest income.
| Age | Median | Average | Households with debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16–24 | €13,000 | €35,400 | 24 % |
| 25–34 | €19,100 | €127,700 | 49 % |
| 35–44 | €75,100 | €238,200 | 57 % |
| 45–54 | €156,200 | €409,600 | 56 % |
| 55–64 | €255,900 | €440,100 | 44 % |
| 65–74 | €211,900 | €411,500 | 19 % |
| 75+ | €149,400 | €348,900 | 11 % |
| All households | €103,200 | €324,800 | 39 % |
This is net worth: property, business assets, vehicles and valuables, bank deposits, securities and private pensions, minus all debt. Entitlements to the state pension are not included.
Median or average?
The median splits households into two halves: one has less, the other more. The average spreads all wealth evenly across everyone. Because a few households own a great deal, the average of €324,800 is more than three times the median. For 25- to 34-year-olds it is even 6.7 times: €127,700 against €19,100.
For the question “Where do I stand?”, the median is therefore the better benchmark. The gap to the average says more about how unequally wealth is distributed.
Why wealth rises and falls with age
Until the mid 60s, people save, repay and invest: property becomes debt-free, portfolios grow. After that, wealth is partly used up to top up the pension, or already given away and passed on. On top of that comes a generational effect, because older cohorts saved and bought under different conditions.
The jump between ages 25 to 34 (median €19,100) and 45 to 54 (€156,200) stands out: in these years many buy their first home. Accordingly, the share of households with debt is highest between 35 and 54, at 56 to 57 %.
Owning or renting
The biggest difference is not age but housing. Owners without a mortgage had a median net worth of €450,200 in 2023, owners with a mortgage €379,900, renters €18,300. Part of that is simply the value of the property. Another part, according to a common explanation, is that ownership forces you to save: the principal leaves your account every month, whether you like it or not.
How buying, letting and renting with an ETF plan compare over 25 years is worked through in Own home, buy-to-let or ETFs?
East and West
In eastern Germany the median net worth was €35,900 in 2023, in the West €143,200. Reasons include the lower home ownership rate and the shorter time in which wealth could be built up and passed on.
Your comparison
Enter the age of the person with the highest income in your household and your combined net worth.
Age group 35–44
2.0 times the median of €75,100
below the average of €238,200 · 57 % of households in this age group have debt.
From €779,500, a household belonged to the wealthiest tenth of all households in Germany.
Net worth by age of the main earner, 2023
Bundesbank, survey “Private households and their finances” 2023 (published April 2025): about 4,000 households, nominal euros, without statutory pension entitlements. Households, not individuals.
Comparing fairly
- Household, not person: couples count together.
- Same components: property at market value, life and pension insurance at their current value, all debt deducted. How to do that is shown in Calculating your net worth.
- Without the state pension: civil servants and employees with high pension entitlements look poorer in this comparison than they are; self-employed people without state pension insurance usually save for retirement with their own wealth.
- As of 2023, nominal: prices, markets and property values have moved since.
For your own planning, where you stand in comparison matters less than whether your wealth is enough for your goals, for example for retirement.
How wealth has changed
Compared with the 2021 survey, the average rose slightly from €316,500 to €324,800, while the median fell from €106,600 to €103,200. After inflation, both lost purchasing power.
Sources
Rules and figures as of