Irish household wealth has hit record levels again, but that growth may be coming to an end and inequality remains very high, according to a new Central Bank report.
The Central Bank’s Irish Household Wealth report for the first quarter of 2026 found that the net wealth of Irish households hit a new record of €1,429.5 billion, up 4% in the first three months of the year.
Much of the wealth increase is related to the steady house price growth of recent years. Despite easing rates of increase, property prices continue to rise with the latest figures showing they are 26.5% above the highest level at the peak of the property boom in April 2007.
Housing wealth accounts for 66.1% of total net wealth and 59.5% of the total assets of Irish households. It increased by €14.1 billion over the quarter, largely due to positive revaluations.
However, the Central Bank warns the wealth growth is not guaranteed to continue.
“Ireland’s economy performed strong last year but economic growth is expected to decline in 2026 and furthermore, recent CSO figures show that the Irish economy shrank by 1.6% in the 12 months to the end of June 2026,” Bryan Harvey, Managing Director of WealthPlan said.
“There has also been a slight increase in the unemployment rate. Even small increases in unemployment or living costs could quickly reduce disposable income for some families and in turn, their ability to accumulate wealth,” he added.
Total household investment of €7.9 billion over the quarter was mainly driven by investment in new housing assets.
Today’s report highlights the inequality in the country, with the wealthiest 10% of Irish households commanding €693.1 billion, or 47.2% of the total household wealth in the country.
“Many households will see little direct benefit from the rise in household wealth recorded in today’s report, particularly those who do not own property or are still saving to get onto the property ladder,” said wealth advisor Sarah McGurrin, Head of Employee Benefits with NFP Ireland.
Households in the top 10% had more diversified assets and were less leveraged (4%), whereas those in the lowest 10% had more of their wealth in deposits (18.6%) and had significantly higher debt to wealth ratios (27.1%).
However, the Irish Gini coefficient – a widely used measurement of wealth inequality – was 62.9, well below the value of the same index for the euro area as a whole (73.1) and of most other European countries, as it has been for the past years.
The household debt-to-assets ratio declined to 9.6%, as loans increased only marginally (€1 billion) to stand at €153.1 billion. The debt-to-income ratio of Irish households also marginally decreased, reaching 80.3% at the end of the quarter.
The increase in the price of housing assets benefits the lower-wealth households more, as the asset represents a larger percentage of their total wealth, which has contributed to a significant lowering of wealth inequality in Ireland since measurement began in 2013.
