Wealth Inequality UK 2026: The Key Figures

Wealth inequality measures how unevenly the stock of assets - property, private pensions, financial savings and physical goods, minus debts - is spread across households. It is distinct from income inequality, which measures the flow of earnings. The figures in the table above come from the Office for National Statistics Wealth and Assets Survey, whose latest published round covers April 2020 to March 2022.

In that round, median household wealth in Great Britain was GBP 293,700 including private pensions. The wealthiest 1% of households held 10% of all household wealth, the same share as the least wealthy 50% of households combined, and the wealth Gini coefficient stood at 0.59 against an income Gini of 0.36. The gaps widen further by age and region: median wealth peaked at GBP 502,500 for households headed by someone aged 65 to 74, against GBP 15,200 for those headed by someone aged 16 to 24, and ranged from GBP 489,800 in the South East to GBP 179,900 in the North East. The ONS notes that accreditation of the survey is suspended from this round while data quality work continues.

For the policy debate behind these numbers, see our pillar on why the UK won't tax wealth. For more on the figures and the people making the case, read Gary Stevenson on a wealth tax and our look at why boomers had it easier, which examines the age dimension of the wealth gap above.