National economic wealth in 2014 – Downturn of 1.8%

At the end of 2014, national economic wealth stood at 13,064 billion euros, i.e. 7.5 times the net domestic product for the year. After two years of being almost stable (–0.4% in current euros in 2013 and –0.1% in 2012), it fell back 1.8% in 2014. This decline was the result of the combined effect of the drop in real estate prices and a deterioration in net financial wealth. Household wealth stagnated after two years of modest growth (+0.2% after +1.1% in 2013 and +1.4% in 2012). Non-financial assets, consisting mainly of housing and land, decreased more substantially than in 2013 (–1.2% after -0.7%). Households’ financial assets, however, continued to increase, but were less dynamic despite the continued flow of significant investments. In 2014, the equity of non-financial companies slowed (+2.6% after +7.9%) linked with a lower rate of increase of share prices and a drop in the price of non-financial assets. Lastly, there was a surge in general government liabilities due to the increase in market value of bonds.