The wealth of Belgian households has risen slightly once again, but the increase was much slower than in the previous year according to the Wealth Report compiled by Keytrade Bank and Ghent University. The median Belgian household now has assets worth €286,250, when all its assets – from savings and investments to houses and cars – are added together.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article spoke of 'average Belgian household assets'. This was not correct and should have read 'median'.
€286,250: that is now the median wealth of Belgians. Median means that half of Belgian households own more than that amount and half own less. The advantage of such a median figure is that it is not skewed by extremely high or extremely low wealth.
That median wealth is now 3 per cent higher than last year. If you compare that growth to inflation of 2.4 per cent, real wealth has increased by less than 1 per cent (0.9%). So it is still an increase, but a much more modest one than in 2024, when median wealth grew by 11 per cent and far outstripped inflation.
Why is that? “If you look at the components of our wealth, we see that assets, such as property and investments, have risen sharply, but debt has risen even more sharply,” says Professor of Financial Economics Koen Ingelbrecht (Ghent University). “The rise in debt was three to four times higher than last year.”
Belgians are borrowing more
Very often, this involves mortgage debt. “We are seeing house prices continue to rise year after year. This means you have to borrow much larger sums than before. Renovation has also become considerably more expensive: building materials are rising in price, but government policy also emphasises improving energy efficiency – in some cases, this is even mandatory.”
“Families also have to borrow more for this. That can be detrimental in the short term – debts are rising – but in the longer term it will pay off, thanks to your home’s improved efficiency.”
At the same time, the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates a few times in 2025. “That has also made borrowing slightly cheaper. This allows people to borrow a higher amount.”
Savings accounts and houses
Another striking trend: over the past year, people have returned to their savings accounts in droves. These now account for 11 per cent of total assets, compared to 9 per cent last year. A choice for security, says Ingelbrecht.
“In 2024, many households reinvested the funds released from the popular government bond issue (plus the interest) into term accounts. When a large proportion of these matured last year, new term accounts were far less attractive due to low interest rates. And so a significant amount of financial assets shifted back to traditional savings account.’
Home ownership remains, by far, the most important pillar of the average family’s wealth. For the first time, the home accounts for more than half of Belgian families’ wealth: the share has risen from 45 per cent last year to 51 per cent this year.
Gap between rich and poor is not wider
People in the poorest 10 per cent of the population have accumulated around €6,200 in assets. To be among the richest 10 per cent, you need to have assets of almost €1 million.
This year, it appears that the gap between the wealthiest and least wealthy Belgians has not widened. "You would expect that to be the case, though: wealthier families are more likely to invest in the market, and they often own other property that generates additional returns."
"But we have noticed that the number of gifts has risen sharply over the past year. The wealthiest generations, such as the baby boomers, are passing on a large portion of their wealth, often to their grandchildren."
Nevertheless, Ingelbrecht expects that gap to persist in the longer term. "If we were to exclude those gifts, that gap would at least remain stable and might even widen."