British households have taken the heaviest hit to their wealth of any advanced economy since the pandemic, a sobering benchmark for a country that once prided itself on rising prosperity.
The average Briton is now more than a fifth poorer than five years ago, according to UBS. Of the 37 countries the Swiss bank surveyed, none has seen a steeper decline.
Typical individual wealth has dropped by roughly £28,500 since 2020 once inflation is stripped out, leaving the median adult with assets of just over £95,500 last year. That makes the British marginally better off than the French, but poorer than the Dutch and the Italians, a ranking that would have seemed improbable a decade ago.
Wealth here is measured by the value of assets such as property and shares, and it has been eroded at pace after inflation surged in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Britain absorbed a worse inflation shock than most of its peers as energy costs jumped, a squeeze that continues to shape the wider picture on living standards.
A cooling housing market has deepened the slump. Remarkably, British families have fared worse over the past five years than households in Turkey, Bulgaria, Mexico and Kazakhstan.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
