The wealth of the richest 10% of France

What percentage of France’s wealth does the richest 10% own?

That is what you are about to find out, but first a few definitions to make sure you do not make a mistake.

What is wealth? Wealth, as defined by INSEE, includes real estate, financial assets as well as professional assets for independent workers.

Which period is studied? Three dates have been taken into account. The first, 1998 (left of the graph) and the second, 2004 (middle of the graph), concern only metropolitan France. The third date, 2010 (right of the graph), concerns the whole of France.

Who are the people studied? They are the richest households in France in terms of wealth. For example, the “richest 10%” considered in the diagram are the 10% of French households with the greatest wealth.


1998 2004 2010

Mass of wealth in France held by the X% richest households from 1998 to 2010, according to INSEE

What should we retain from these data?

  • The richest 10% of households own almost half of the total wealth, more exactly 48% of the wealth, in 2010.
  • This trend is slightly up, by 2 points, compared to 1998 and 2004 when they held only 46% of the wealth. (+2.3% between 2004 and 2010)
  • The 30% of the least wealthy households own only 1% of the wealth.
  • Between 2004 and 2010, the share of the wealth of the richest households increased faster than that of the poorest households.
    In fact, over this period, the rich are increasing their wealth faster than the poor in proportion:
    +2.3% for the richest 10% of households, versus only +0.5% for the 50%, and only +0.2% for the 70%.

General Knowledge: inequalities