Wealth share of the richest 1% in Australia
Australia: Wealth share of the richest 1% was 23.7% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Wealth share of the richest 1% in Australia, 1820–2024
Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, wealth share of the richest 1% in Australia stood at 23.7%.
That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 2.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wealth share of the richest 1% in Australia peaked at 41.3% in 1900 and was at its lowest, 20.9%, in 1970.
Australia ranks 177th of 215 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820s | 29.4% | 29.4% | 29.4% | 1 |
| 1850s | 30.8% | 30.8% | 30.8% | 1 |
| 1880s | 30.0% | 30.0% | 30.0% | 1 |
| 1900s | 41.3% | 41.3% | 41.3% | 1 |
| 1910s | 41.2% | 41.2% | 41.2% | 1 |
| 1920s | 22.1% | 22.1% | 22.1% | 1 |
| 1930s | 21.7% | 21.7% | 21.7% | 1 |
| 1940s | 22.2% | 22.2% | 22.2% | 1 |
| 1950s | 21.9% | 21.9% | 21.9% | 1 |
| 1960s | 21.0% | 21.0% | 21.0% | 1 |
| 1970s | 20.9% | 20.9% | 20.9% | 1 |
| 1980s | 21.7% | 21.7% | 21.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 21.9% | 21.7% | 22.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 22.3% | 22.1% | 22.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 22.8% | 22.5% | 23.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.5% | 22.9% | 23.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 174 Bangladesh 23.9% compare
- 174 Guinea-Bissau 23.9% compare
- 176 Serbia 23.7% compare
- 178 East Timor 23.7% compare
- 179 Afghanistan 23.6% compare
- 180 Ethiopia 23.6% compare
More reference data data for Australia
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.4864 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.8615 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 1.13 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.0026 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.4713 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 148.46 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is wealth share of the richest 1% in Australia?
- Wealth share of the richest 1% in Australia was 23.7% in 2024, according to World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest wealth share of the richest 1% recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 41.3% in 1900.
- What is the lowest wealth share of the richest 1% recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.9% in 1970.
- How does Australia rank for wealth share of the richest 1%?
- Australia ranks 177th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is wealth share of the richest 1% rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Wealth share of the richest 1%. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of wealth owned by the richest 1% of the population. Wealth is defined as the total value of non-financial and financial assets (housing, land, deposits, bonds, equities, etc.) held by households, minus their debts.