Wealth share of the richest 1% in Germany

Germany: Wealth share of the richest 1% was 27.9% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
27.9%
Change on year
up 0.5%
World rank
76th
of 215 countries
All-time high
54.0%
in 1850
All-time low
21.5%
in 1969
Years of data
76
1820–2024

Wealth share of the richest 1% in Germany, 1820–2024

0204060182019222024

Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Germany recorded 27.9% for wealth share of the richest 1% in 2024.

The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 0.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, wealth share of the richest 1% in Germany peaked at 54.0% in 1850 and was at its lowest, 21.5%, in 1969.

That places Germany 76th out of 215 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 76 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1820s 51.5% 51.5% 51.5% 1
1850s 54.0% 54.0% 54.0% 1
1880s 50.5% 50.5% 50.5% 1
1890s 50.4% 49.9% 51.4% 4
1900s 52.0% 51.5% 52.4% 4
1910s 50.7% 49.8% 51.6% 3
1920s 38.8% 37.5% 40.1% 3
1930s 36.0% 32.6% 39.3% 2
1940s 36.7% 36.7% 36.7% 1
1950s 21.8% 21.6% 22.0% 3
1960s 24.1% 21.5% 25.3% 4
1970s 25.5% 23.0% 26.8% 4
1980s 24.1% 22.4% 27.0% 10
1990s 24.5% 21.9% 27.1% 10
2000s 27.4% 26.2% 28.9% 10
2010s 27.6% 26.6% 28.5% 10
2020s 27.8% 27.5% 28.0% 5

Countries ranked near Germany

  1. 73 United Arab Emirates 28.1% compare
  2. 74 Nigeria 28.0% compare
  3. 75 Algeria 27.9% compare
  4. 77 Taiwan 27.8% compare
  5. 78 Jordan 27.8% compare
  6. 79 Cape Verde 27.7% compare

See the full ranking of 215 places →

More reference data data for Germany

All data for Germany →

Frequently asked questions

What is wealth share of the richest 1% in Germany?
Wealth share of the richest 1% in Germany was 27.9% 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 Germany?
The highest recorded value was 54.0% in 1850.
What is the lowest wealth share of the richest 1% recorded in Germany?
The lowest recorded value was 21.5% in 1969.
How does Germany rank for wealth share of the richest 1%?
Germany ranks 76th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
Is wealth share of the richest 1% rising or falling in Germany?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Germany 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 — 76 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Wealth share of the richest 1%
Unit
%
Source
World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
215 places, 10,553 data points, 1800–2024
Last refreshed

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.