Germany’s Super-Rich Control Over a Quarter of Nation’s Financial Wealth, BCG Study Finds
Germany’s financial landscape is becoming increasingly lopsided. According to a new study by Boston Consulting Group, roughly 5,000 ultra-wealthy individuals now hold more than a quarter of the country’s total financial assets — a concentration that researchers say will only deepen in the years ahead.
The Global Wealth Report, published on Wednesday, found that the number of Germans with personal assets exceeding $100 million grew by approximately 1,100 in 2025 alone. Together, these ultra-rich individuals now control $3.4 trillion of Germany’s $12.4 trillion in financial wealth, or 27.3 percent. BCG projects that share will climb to 29 percent by 2030.
“The concentration of wealth at the top continues to increase,” said Michael Kahlich, a BCG partner in Zurich and co-author of the study. “Those who have more can diversify more widely and invest in higher-yielding asset classes such as equities or private equity.”
The findings arrive at a moment of growing public debate across Europe about wealth inequality and the social contract. Germany, the continent’s largest economy, has long been seen as a model of broad-based prosperity, but the data tells a more complicated story.
At the other end of the income spectrum, roughly 66 million Germans hold financial assets of less than $250,000, accounting for 35.9 percent of total financial wealth. More than 700,000 multimillionaires, combined with the approximately 5,000 ultra-rich, control over half the country’s financial assets.
The numbers reflect a broader trend that has accelerated since the pandemic. Germany’s total net wealth rose approximately 15 percent in 2025 to $23.3 trillion, driven largely by an 18 percent surge in financial assets on the back of strong stock markets. Real assets, predominantly property, climbed to $13.4 trillion and accounted for more than half of total wealth, while debt edged up slightly to $2.5 trillion.
But those gains have been unevenly distributed. The ultra-rich benefited disproportionately from equity market gains, BCG noted, widening the gap between the wealthiest and everyone else.
Germans remain cautious investors by international standards, with deposits and cash still dominating household portfolios. Exchange-traded funds, equities and other capital market instruments are steadily gaining ground, but the country’s relatively limited equity investment culture continues to shape how wealth is accumulated and distributed.
Structural headwinds add to the challenge. Weak economic growth, an ageing population and Germany’s cautious approach to risk-taking all weigh on broader wealth creation. The result is a financial landscape where those already at the top have the tools and the capital to pull further ahead, while the majority sees more modest gains.
The BCG study does not prescribe policy solutions, but its findings carry clear implications. As wealth concentrates among fewer hands, questions about tax policy, investment access and economic opportunity are likely to intensify — not just in Germany, but across the eurozone, where similar dynamics are playing out.
For now, the numbers are stark: 5,000 people hold more than a quarter of Europe’s largest economy’s financial wealth, and that share is growing.
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