Key points
The net wealth of Italian households continues to increase: at the end of 2025, it stood at USD 12,326 billion, or 8.5 times disposable income (up from 8.3 times in 2024). Gross financial wealth, which rose by 7.4% in 2025, to USD 6,500 billion, is certainly the driving force, sustained above all by the strong appreciation of shares and holdings in companies resident in Italia. The ratio of financial assets to disposable income rose to 4.5, one of the highest values at euro level.
The wealth of older households has doubled
This is what emerges from the annual report of the Bank of Italia, which this year also focuses on a phenomenon linked to the ageing of the population and which has led the experts at Palazzo Koch to wonder what will happen to all this wealth. "The significant wealth held by households with older members will be subject to a significant intergenerational transfer in the coming years, with effects on economic behaviour and wealth distribution," it states. The in-depth study on this aspect shows that, between 1991 and 2022, the share of households in which the main income earner is under 36 years of age has decreased from 16 per cent to 6 per cent, while that in which he or she is over 65 has increased by about 5 percentage points, to 28 per cent. Similarly, the share of wealth held by older households almost doubled to 32 per cent, while that of younger households fell from 13 per cent to 4 per cent.
Over 80: they are more and have lived better
"Our analyses indicate that the increase in the wealth weight of older households mainly reflects the positive trend in their average wealth relative to overall wealth, while the contribution of the higher incidence of this age group on the population appears secondary," the report explains. Today's older households have benefited from an overall more favourable macroeconomic environment, compared to younger ones, in terms of income growth and property price dynamics. These conditions have mainly affected cohorts born between 1941 and 1950, which have higher life-cycle wealth profiles than both previous and subsequent generations'.
Under 65: they have more (the most educated), but they are fewer
Banca d'Italia believes that in the coming years wealth will be passed on to the next generations - born between 1966 and 1975 - who are numerically smaller due to lower fertility. The wealth transferred (mainly housing) would represent a higher share of assets than that inherited by previous generations (40% versus 30%). The analysis goes on to argue that heirs with high educational qualifications from educated families would benefit far more than those without the same education. The result would be a widening of the wealth distribution gap. There would be the benefit of the increase in consumption produced by those expecting an inheritance. "Households that expect to receive an inheritance have on average 7 per cent higher consumption levels and about 17 per cent lower savings than those without such an expectation," it points out.
Disposable income will rise by 0.9% in 2025
According to the report, household disposable income increased by 0.9 per cent in real terms in 2025. Consumption grew in line with income, leaving the savings rate unchanged at around 8.2 per cent. "The latter was upwardly affected by high real interest rates, high uncertainty and demographic and labour market changes; the effect of these factors was partly offset by a deterioration in the ability to save, especially among lower-income households". The recomposition of assets in favour of assets under management and Italian government securities continued: government securities in the hands of foreign investors rose from 24.8 to 28.2 per cent; the share of banks rose by one percentage point, to 15.1 per cent; the share of households rose from 12.5 to 13.1 per cent, an increase of 30 billion.
