Nearly two million French households are millionaires, new study finds
A new report has found that almost two million households in France now hold assets worth more than €1 million, highlighting growing wealth inequality across the country.
Almost two million households in France now possess assets worth more than €1 million, according to a new report examining wealth and inequality across the country.
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The study, published by the Observatoire des Inégalités, found that 6.5% of French households qualify as millionaires.
More broadly, around 11% of households are considered wealthy, with assets exceeding €820,400.
Using official figures from the national statistics agency INSEE, the report estimates that approximately 1.95 million households have net assets above the €1 million mark, while around 3.3 million meet the study’s wider definition of wealth.
Despite these figures, only around 181,000 households pay France’s property wealth tax, known as the IFI.
The tax applies solely to real-estate assets above €1.3 million and excludes most financial investments, helping explain why many millionaire households do not fall within its scope.
The report also highlights the concentration of wealth at the very top of society.
France is home to 145 billionaires, including luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault, whose fortune has made him one of Europe’s richest individuals.
Researchers found that wealth inequality has widened significantly over the past three decades.
The financial wealth of the richest 0.1% of households has quadrupled since 2003, while the combined wealth of France’s 500 richest individuals has increased more than sixfold.
At the same time, wealth remains closely linked to age and social background.
More than four-fifths of households in the wealthiest 10% come from privileged backgrounds, while over 90% are headed by people aged over 40.
Although the super-rich have become wealthier, the report notes that the overall proportion of people classified as wealthy has fallen slightly over the past decade, partly due to tax reforms and measures aimed at reducing inequality.