The typical German household had a net worth of €103,200 in 2023. The average was €324,800. Net worth climbs with age until the 55 to 64 bracket, where the median reaches €255,900, and then falls. These are the Bundesbank’s figures, and the gap between median and average matters more than either number.
Most “net worth by age” tables online use US data from the Federal Reserve. For Germany, the main source is the Bundesbank’s household wealth survey PHF (“Private Haushalte und ihre Finanzen”). Its latest wave interviewed 3,985 households between May 2023 and February 2024. The results appeared in the Monthly Report of April 2025. The age figures below come from its table annex. As of 25 October 2026, this is the latest published wave.
Net worth by age in Germany (2023)
| Age | Median | Average (mean) | Mean ÷ median | Households with debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16–24 | €13,000 | €35,400 | 2.7 | 24 % |
| 25–34 | €19,100 | €127,700 | 6.7 | 49 % |
| 35–44 | €75,100 | €238,200 | 3.2 | 57 % |
| 45–54 | €156,200 | €409,600 | 2.6 | 56 % |
| 55–64 | €255,900 | €440,100 | 1.7 | 44 % |
| 65–74 | €211,900 | €411,500 | 1.9 | 19 % |
| 75+ | €149,400 | €348,900 | 2.3 | 11 % |
| All households | €103,200 | €324,800 | 3.1 |
The “reference person” is the household member with the highest income. A couple counts as one household, so compare your household’s combined net worth, not your share of it. The values are in 2023 euros.
Compared with 2021, the median fell slightly in nominal terms, from about €106,600 to €103,200, while the average rose from €316,500. After inflation, both fell: in 2010 prices, the median dropped from €90,500 to €76,000.
Why the average misleads
The median is the household in the middle: half have more, half have less. The average adds everything up and divides by the number of households. A few very wealthy households pull it up. In Germany the wealthiest 10 % hold more than half of all net wealth, so the average is 3.1 times the median.
The gap is widest for 25 to 34 year olds. Their average is €127,700, but the median household has €19,100. Some young households own property, a business or an inheritance; most have a bank account, perhaps a car and a first ETF savings plan. If you are 30 and below the average, you are in the large majority.
The percentiles for all households show the spread. 10 % of households have less than €800. The middle sits at €103,200. You need €473,500 to be in the top 20 % and €779,500 for the top 10 %. The top 5 % start at €1,227,900.
Where you live and whether you own also matter. In eastern Germany the median is €35,900; in the west it is €143,200. Tenants have a median of €18,300. Owners without a mortgage have €450,200. Much of the difference by age is home ownership: a paid-off home is often the largest asset of a household in its 60s.
What the Bundesbank counts as wealth
Net wealth is gross wealth minus debt. Gross wealth includes:
- real assets: property, business ownership, vehicles, collections and jewellery;
- financial assets: bank and building society balances, securities and funds;
- the positive balances of private pension and life insurance policies.
Debt includes mortgages and other loans. Statutory pension entitlements are not included. The Bundesbank explains that in a pay-as-you-go system, contributions create entitlements, not wealth. That understates the position of many employees. A worker with 40 pension points can expect a gross statutory pension of about €1,700 a month at today’s pension value of €42.52. Buying that income privately would cost a large sum, but none of it shows up in the table. Civil servants’ pension claims are missing too.
So a self-employed person with €300,000 in an ETF portfolio and a salaried employee with €150,000 plus a full statutory pension record are not as far apart as the numbers suggest.
How to compare yourself honestly
- Use the household. Add up all assets of everyone who shares finances, at today’s market values, and subtract all debts, including car loans and overdrafts.
- Compare with the median of your age group, not the average. Then check the overall percentiles to see where you stand.
- Account for pensions separately. Look up your expected statutory pension on your Renteninformation. Add occupational pensions and private contracts. Use the pension gap calculator to see what is still missing for your target income.
- Keep property apart. A home you live in replaces rent, but you cannot spend its value without selling it or borrowing against it.
- Watch the trend, not the snapshot. Your savings rate and the time left until you need the money matter more than whether you beat a survey median this year.
Turn the comparison into a plan
A table tells you where you are, not whether it is enough. That depends on what you spend, when you want to stop working and what pensions you will get. Three calculators answer the next questions:
- The compound interest calculator shows what your current wealth and monthly savings can grow to by a chosen age.
- The FIRE calculator estimates when your investments and your expected pension can cover your spending.
- The pension gap calculator estimates the gap between your statutory pension and the income you want.
If you are in your 50s and wondering whether you could stop early, read Can I retire at 55? and Can I retire at 60?. For a fuller picture, how to build a financial plan walks through accounts, goals and scenarios step by step.
Work it out with your numbers
Common questions
What is the average net worth in Germany?
According to the Bundesbank's 2023 household wealth survey, the average (mean) net wealth per household was €324,800 and the median was €103,200. The median is the better guide to a typical household, because a small number of very wealthy households lift the average.
At what age is net worth highest in Germany?
Households whose main earner is 55 to 64 have the highest net wealth: a median of €255,900 and a mean of €440,100 in 2023. After that, wealth declines as households draw on savings in retirement.
Are pensions included in net worth figures?
Statutory pension entitlements are not included in the Bundesbank's net wealth, because a pay-as-you-go system creates entitlements rather than assets. Positive balances of private pension and life insurance policies are included.
Is my net worth per person or per household?
The Bundesbank reports per household. A couple counts as one household, so compare your combined net worth with the table, grouped by the age of the member with the highest income.
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Try Zenarios in your browserWritten by the maker of Zenarios, a software engineer. These guides explain planning concepts and the product; they are not a personalized financial recommendation. Illustrative calculations are not results from your plan.