Properly evaluating and designing policies that take wealth inequality into account relies on measuring wealth accurately at the regional level. This is particularly important in countries such as Spain, where a high degree of administrative decentralisation means that a significant proportion of public spending and revenue — including taxes on wealth ownership and transfer — is managed by the regions.
In this paper, Gustavo A. Marrero, Clara Martínez-Toledano, Juan César Palomino, and Dmitry Petrov present the first systematic analysis of regional wealth inequality in Spain. They do so by combining administrative fiscal data with household surveys and national accounts between 2016 and 2022.
The data series resulting from this paper are freely accessible on the Spain Wealth Atlas website.
This new tool allows to visualize the evolution of wealth and its distribution in Spain, across its regions, and through various indicators. The Atlas covers the period 2016-2022 and will be regularly updated as new data become available.
KEY FINDINGS
At national level:
- The average net household wealth grew from around €335,000 to €380,000 between 2016 and 2022. However, when adjusted for inflation using the GDP deflator, the average remained stable at around €380,000 in equivalent 2022 euros throughout this period.
- Housing assets accounted for over 50% of total wealth in 2022, making it the asset contributing most to wealth. The total wealth tied to investment real estate properties increased from 11.5% in 2016 to almost 14% in 2022 — the largest increase of all categories.
- The asset portfolio changes significantly depending on the wealth level of households – for example, the poorest 20%, current accounts are the most relevant asset, making up 63% of their portfolio. For the top 10%, investment properties, business assets, and especially equities and investment funds become more important.
- Wealth concentration has increased in Spain in recent decades. In 2022, the top 1% of wealth holders accumulate 26%-27% of total wealth, while the top 10% hold almost 60% of the Spanish’s wealth. The (upper) middle class, represented by the next 40%, accumulates around 35%–36% of the total, while the bottom 50% of the population holds only around 7%.
At the regional level:
- Madrid stands out for having the highest average wealth levels (€687,000 per household), which is approximately 80% higher than the national average.
- At the regional level, the most unequal areas tend to have a larger proportion of investment real estate and financial assets among the top 10% of wealth holders and a smaller proportion of wealth tied to primary residences among the middle and lower-middle segments of the distribution.
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AUTHORS
- Gustavo A. Marrero, Universidad de La Laguna (Dpto. of Economics & CEDESOG), EQUALITAS & SMN
- Clara Martínez-Toledano, Imperial College London, World Inequality Lab & ESADEEcPol
- Juan César Palomino, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Dpto. of Economic Analysis & ICAE), EQUALITAS & INET Oxford
- Dmitry Petrov, Universidad de Alcalá & EQUALITAS
MEDIA CONTACT
- Alice Fauvel, Communications Manager, alice.fauvel[at]psemail.eu ; press[at]wid.world
