UK households are nearly a quarter poorer since 2020
Key Points
- UK average wealth per adult fell 23.2% in real terms from 2020 to 2025.
- It is the steepest decline of the 56 markets UBS tracks.
- Netherlands was next at -14.36%, then France at -4.52%.
- The figures are UBS estimates and adjusted for inflation.
- UBS changed its methodology, so figures are not comparable with earlier reports.
The average British adult is nearly a quarter poorer in real terms than at the start of the decade, the steepest wealth decline of any major economy in a new global study.
UBS found that average wealth per adult in the UK dropped 23.2% between January 2020 and December 2025, measured in local currency and stripped of inflation, in its Global Wealth Report 2026. No other market in the bank’s 56-market sample fell as far.
The Netherlands was the next-steepest faller at 23.2%, sorry, at 14.36%, followed by France at 4.52% and Brazil at 3.13%. In 15 markets average wealth per adult declined over the period, while South Korea led all gains with a rise of more than 55%.
The report attributed most year-to-year swings in national wealth to currency movements rather than changes in living standards. Enrico Börger, the report’s Author, noted that observing trends over six years strips out much of the short-term noise that distorts single-year figures.
A different story in dollars
Measured in US dollars, the UK actually looks stronger, because the metric flatters countries whose currencies rose against the dollar during 2025.
On that basis, average wealth per adult stood at USD $292,808, placing the UK 21st in the world. On median wealth per adult, which better reflects the middle of the population, the UK ranked higher at 13th on USD 125,335, pointing to a relatively even spread of wealth compared with markets such as the United States.
Paul Donovan, Chief Economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, noted that people tend to judge their wealth “relative to the wealth of others, rather than in absolute terms.” UK debt also runs high by the sample’s standards, at 20% of gross wealth, level with Switzerland.
