Data extracted on 24 October 2025
Planned article update: October 2026
Highlights
Total financial assets of households in the EU were valued at €39 482 billion in 2024, which was 4.1 times higher than the value of their financial liabilities, which stood at €9 728 billion.
In 2024, the assets of households in the EU were composed mainly of equity and investment fund shares (36.6%), currency and deposits (30.6%), and insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees (26.9%), whereas liabilities largely consisted of loans (92.4%).
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Source: Eurostat (nasa_10_f_bs)
This article focuses on the annual stock of financial assets and liabilities for households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH). Note that there are complementary articles that provide similar information on non-financial corporations and financial corporations. A comparison between these sectors (excluding general government) is available in the article on non-financial corporations.
Across the European Union (EU), the financial assets of households mainly comprise equity and investment fund shares, currency and deposits, and assets held with life insurance companies and pension funds. The financial liabilities of households mainly comprise mortgages and other types of loans.
The data presented in this article relate to a detailed set of consolidated financial balance sheets for households and NPISH, as released by Eurostat. Note that statistics detailing the financial accounts may be consolidated or non-consolidated; the latter record not only transactions and positions between sectors (in other words, households and NPISH with other actors in the economy) but also transactions and positions within the same sector (in other words, between households and/or NPISH).
This article provides an analysis of financial assets and liabilities in the EU and the euro area (EA), as well as for individual EU countries, 1 of the EFTA countries (Norway) and 2 of the enlargement countries (North Macedonia and Türkiye). Data are generally available for 2024; the latest data available for North Macedonia are for 2023. Some indicators are presented in relation to gross domestic product (GDP), which is beneficial for making cross-country comparisons, especially between countries of different size.
In this article, data for the households sector always include information for the NPISH sector. It should be noted that the size of the NPISH sector is relatively small compared with the household sector, accounting for around 2% of the combined total financial assets and liabilities of these 2 sectors.
Assets and liabilities
Total financial assets of households in the EU were valued at €39 482 billion in 2024, 4.1 times higher than their financial liabilities, which were valued at €9 728 billion
Total financial assets of households in the EU were valued at €39 482 billion in 2024. This was 4.1 times higher than value of their financial liabilities that stood at €9 728 billion, resulting in a net difference of €29 754 billion (or 75.4% of the value of the assets). This was higher than the same value in 2023, which stood at €27 708 billion (or 74.2%).
The annual rate of change for total financial assets and liabilities of households is presented in Figure 1. The EU recorded growth in 2024 of 5.8% for assets and 1.1% for liabilities.
It should be noted that rates of change are calculated in national currencies. Among EU countries, the highest annual growth rates for assets in 2024 were observed in Hungary (12.8%), Croatia (12.4%) and Latvia (12.2%). For liabilities, Bulgaria had, by far, the highest annual growth rate among EU countries, at 19.2%; the next highest growth rates were recorded in Croatia (10.5%) and Lithuania (10.3%). Among the non-EU countries included in Figure 1, Türkiye had higher annual growth rates: 45.6% for assets and 48.7% for liabilities. Among EU countries, all had a positive annual rates of change for assets, while negative annual rates of change were registered for liabilities in Finland, Cyprus (both -1.1%), Austria and Ireland (both -0.4%).
Ireland and Sweden had the largest differences between the rates of change for assets and liabilities, 9.7 and 9.4 percentage points (points), respectively, resulting from relatively large increases in assets combined with a small increase (Sweden) and a decrease (Ireland) in liabilities. The largest difference, by far, resulting from a faster increase in liabilities than in assets was observed in Bulgaria (8.2 points difference).
Source: Eurostat (nasa_10_f_bs)
The share of each EU country in the EU’s total financial assets and liabilities of households in 2024 is presented in Figure 2. Germany held close to a quarter (23.9%) of the financial assets and more than a fifth (22.2%) of the liabilities of households in the EU, while France’s shares were under a fifth for assets (18.0%) and more than a fifth for liabilities (21.7%). They were followed by Italy with 14.8% of financial assets and a notably lower share (9.0%) of financial liabilities and the Netherlands with 8.5% of financial assets and 11.1% of financial liabilities. Apart from Spain and Sweden, the other EU countries each held less than 5.0% of assets or liabilities. Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain collectively accounted for 73.1% of the financial assets and 71.8% of the financial liabilities of households in the EU.
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Source: Eurostat (nasa_10_f_bs)
Figure 3 presents the financial assets and liabilities of households as a percentage of GDP. In 2024, these assets were valued in the EU at 219.2% of GDP, while these liabilities were valued at 54.0% of GDP, resulting in net financial assets equivalent to 165.2% of GDP.
In Slovakia and Finland, households’ financial assets were, respectively, 2.0 and 2.1 times higher than their liabilities, the lowest such ratios among EU countries. Elsewhere, financial assets were at least 3.0 times higher than liabilities in 23 EU countries and at least 4.0 times higher in 14 EU countries. The 3 highest ratios were observed in Latvia (5.1 times higher), Italy and Hungary (both 6.7 times higher).
The value of households’ financial assets as a percentage of GDP was above 100.0% in 2024 for all EU countries except for Romania (71.4%), Slovakia (90.1%) and Poland (94.1%). This ratio was highest in Denmark (381.2%) and Sweden (352.0%). However, the value of liabilities as a percentage of GDP was below 100.0% for all EU countries. It was highest in the Netherlands (96.6%) and lowest in Romania (15.8%).
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Source: Eurostat (nasa_10_f_bs)
Structure of assets and liabilities
The largest shares of households’ financial assets were equity and investment fund shares, currency and deposits, and insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees
In this article, financial assets and liabilities are presented for 5 main types of instruments: currency and deposits; loans; equity and investment fund shares; insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees; and other accounts receivable/payable. Small shares of total financial assets of EU households in 2024 were accounted for by 3 other types of assets and these are grouped together in Figure 4 as other instruments (with a collective share of 2.7% of total financial assets of households): monetary gold and special drawing rights (SDRs); debt securities; and financial derivatives and employee stock options. Notably, the category of monetary gold and SDRs was valued at zero for all EU countries for the households’ sector.
Out of the total financial assets of EU households in 2024, equity and investment fund shares accounted for the largest share (36.6%) – see Figure 4. This was followed by currency and deposits (30.6%) and insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees (26.9%). Smaller shares were recorded for other accounts receivable/payable (2.7%), other instruments (2.7%) and loans (0.4%).
Among EU countries, the main types of assets held by households in 2024 were generally equity and investment fund shares, currency and deposits, and insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees.
- The category of currency and deposits was the largest instrument in 13 EU countries. This category accounted for over half of all financial assets in 2 EU countries: Cyprus (53.9%) and Poland (51.9%).
- The category of equity and investment fund shares was the largest instrument in 11 EU countries. This category also accounted for over half of all financial assets in 2 EU countries: Estonia (70.7%) and Finland (51.4%).
- The category of insurance, pensions and standardised guarantees was the largest instrument in 3 EU countries and accounted for over half of all financial assets in the Netherlands (54.9%).
The vast majority of households’ financial liabilities were loans
Loans accounted for 92.4% of total financial liabilities of EU households in 2024, while other accounts receivable/payable accounted for 7.6% of the total. The main type of households’ liabilities in each EU country in 2024 was loans, accounting for at least 79.1% of the total except in Lithuania where the share was 72.8%. The lowest contributions from other accounts receivable/payable were 0.0% in Luxembourg and 0.2% in Germany.
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Developments
The value of households’ financial assets as a percentage of GDP increased in a majority of EU countries in 2024
Total financial assets of EU households grew almost continuously during the period 2014-24, falling only in 2022 (down 4.5%). Their total value increased from €25 160 billion in 2014 to €39 482 billion in 2024 (a 56.9% overall increase).
Total financial liabilities increased each year between 2014 and 2024. Total financial liabilities increased from €7 663 billion in 2014 to €9 728 billion in 2024, an overall increase of 27.0%.
The value of households’ financial assets as a percentage of GDP was 2.9 points higher in 2024 than in 2023 in the EU (see Figure 5). This ratio increased in a majority of EU countries (as well as Norway), most notably in Sweden (up 21.7 points). By contrast, the largest decrease was in Malta, down 5.4 points; a similar decrease (down 5.2 points) was also recorded in Türkiye.
The value of households’ financial liabilities as a percentage of GDP decreased by 1.7 points in the EU between 2023 and 2024. This ratio decreased in 20 EU countries, most notably in Cyprus (down 5.8 points). The largest increase among EU countries was observed in Bulgaria (up 2.2 points).
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Source: Eurostat (nasa_10_f_bs)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
The compilation of financial accounts follows the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010).
The financial account and balance sheet
Eurostat’s website includes detailed financial accounts by country. Financial accounts are published in consolidated and non-consolidated forms; within this article, the former are presented. As a rule, the accounting entries in ESA 2010 are non-consolidated, as a consolidated financial account requires information on the counterpart grouping of institutional units. Note that data for the EU and EA aggregates are calculated as a sum of data for EU and EA countries; no adjustment is made for flows between countries.
The household sector
Data for 2012 and more recent years are available separately for the household sector and for the NPISH sector. For data before 2012, these sectors were combined under a single heading. The NPISH sector is relatively small.
In general, sole proprietorships and most partnerships that do not have an independent legal status are considered to be part of the household sector, rather than as corporations (financial or non-financial). However, there are sometimes practical difficulties in delineating ‘quasi-corporations’ (unincorporated businesses with the characteristics of companies) between corporations on one hand and the household sector on the other. This may influence the scope and comparability of the data presented as well as the internal consistency of the full set of accounts.
Context
Financial accounts form part of the national accounting framework and are compiled in the EU in accordance with ESA 2010. They are a significant tool for analysing financial developments and policy decisions, and provide key statistical information on financial transactions, other financial flows and financial balance sheets by institutional sector, including the household sector. Particular issues relating to the household sector include the growth and level of indebtedness, one of the main origins of the global financial and economic crisis.
Financial accounts show how borrowers obtain resources by incurring liabilities or reducing assets, and how lenders allocate their surpluses by acquiring assets or reducing liabilities. Financial assets held by households form an important part of overall wealth and are also an important source of revenue or property income (such as interest payments and dividends). The structure of financial assets held by households may be used in economic analyses to study issues such as asset bubbles, or to assess financial risk, vulnerability and welfare. Since the global financial and economic crisis, financial accounts for households have been integrated into an enlarged set of policy indicators – the EU’s macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP) surveillance mechanism – that are used to identify potential macroeconomic risks early on, prevent the emergence of harmful macroeconomic imbalances and correct the imbalances that are already in place.
Explore further
Other articles
Database
- Financial flows and stocks (nasa_10_f)
- Financial balance sheets - annual data (nasa_10_f_bs)