French people’s wealth: what the latest INSEE figures reveal about property, agricultural land and inheritance

Updated on 20 October 2026 with the results of the INSEE Histoire de vie et Patrimoine (Life History and Wealth) survey 2023-2024, the 2024 wealth accounts, 2025 land prices and the October 2026 INSEE study on inherited homes.

The wealth of French households rests first and foremost on bricks and mortar: real estate accounts for 61% of households' gross wealth according to the latest INSEE survey, published in December 2025. At the beginning of 2024, half of all households owned more than €205,100 in gross wealth, and more than €148,100 once loans are deducted. Behind these medians lie considerable disparities: the wealthiest 10% of households hold 48% of total wealth.

For rural France, these statistics have a particular resonance. Farming households have the highest median wealth of all socio-professional categories, but their wealth consists mainly of land, buildings and equipment, and is therefore not very liquid. And every year, more than half a million homes change hands through inheritance.

This article analyses the latest available figures (INSEE, Banque de France, SAFER and our DVF observatory) and explains what they mean for owners and buyers of rural property.

Contents
1. French household wealth: the sources and why they differ
2. Median and average household wealth
3. A very unequal distribution of wealth
4. Real estate, the largest component of French household wealth
5. Wealth by age: accumulation up to the age of 60
6. Business assets: the special case of farmers
7. Farmland, woodland, country houses: the place of rural assets
8. Inheritance and transfer: when wealth changes hands
9. France compared with the euro area
10. Frequently asked questions about French household wealth

French household wealth: the sources and why they differ

Three public sources measure household wealth in France. They do not give the same figures, because they do not measure exactly the same thing. This is the main reason for the discrepancies found from one article to another.

The three reference sources on household wealth. Source: INSEE, Banque de France

In practice:

• The INSEE survey questions households directly. It is the benchmark for finding out where a given household stands (median, deciles), but it captures very large fortunes poorly.
• The national accounts give total wealth: €14,953 billion for households at the end of 2024, i.e. 76.5% of national economic wealth. Spread across 31.1 million households, this would represent around €480,000 per household, but the scope is broader (sole proprietors, non-profit institutions): this figure is not comparable with that of the survey.
• The Banque de France distributional accounts combine both approaches. They adjust the top of the distribution, which reveals a higher concentration than the survey alone.

Remember one simple rule: to see where you stand, use the median from the INSEE survey; to measure overall economic weight, use the national accounts.

Median and average household wealth

The median divides households into two equal halves: half own less, the other half own more. The average divides total wealth by the number of households: it is pulled upwards by the largest fortunes. In France, average gross wealth (€374,900) is 1.8 times higher than median gross wealth (€205,100).

Gross wealth adds up all assets (real estate, investments, business assets, car and equipment). Net wealth deducts outstanding loans. A household that has just bought its house for €250,000 with a €220,000 loan has high gross wealth but modest net wealth.

Distribution of household wealth at the beginning of 2024. Source: INSEE, Histoire de vie et Patrimoine survey 2023-2024 (Insee Focus No. 371)

Between 2021 and 2024, median gross wealth rose by 15.7% in current euros, but by only 3.1% once inflation is deducted (Insee Focus No. 371). Most of the apparent increase is therefore a price effect, not real enrichment.

A very unequal distribution of wealth

Wealth is far more concentrated than income. At the beginning of 2024, the wealthiest half of households owned 93% of total gross wealth; the other half held only 7%. The Gini index of wealth stands at 0.652, more than twice that of living standards (0.299). This indicator ranges from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (a single household owns everything).

Share of the total amount of each component held by the wealthiest households, beginning of 2024. Source: INSEE, Insee Focus No. 371

Two lessons for rural property:

• Real estate is the least concentrated component: the wealthiest 10% hold 45% of it, compared with 64% of financial assets. Home ownership remains the main vehicle of wealth for the middle classes.
• Business assets are the most concentrated: only 15% of households own any, and the wealthiest 5% hold 95% of them. The land, buildings and equipment of farms fall into this category.

According to INSEE, the rise in inequality since 2015 (Gini up from 0.645 to 0.652) is mainly due to the rise in real estate wealth, driven by rising prices.

Real estate, the largest component of French household wealth

This average conceals wide variation depending on the level of wealth. Virtually absent among the 30% least wealthy households (rarely homeowners), real estate reaches 75% of the wealth of households between the 5th and 7th deciles, then falls back to 53% among the wealthiest 10% and to 34% among the richest 1%, whose wealth is more business-based and financial.

Ownership rates of real estate and business assets. Source: INSEE, Insee Focus No. 354 (n/a: not available in the publication)

One household in five owns a home other than its main residence, a proportion that has risen slightly since 2021. This segment includes most country houses and rural second homes, whose holding costs are often underestimated (see our article on what a second home really costs each year).

Key point: for the vast majority of households, the value of real estate is an unrealised gain. It generates no income until the property is sold or let, and it can fall. The national accounts illustrate this: the value of built-up land held by households (€4,043 billion at the end of 2024) declined in 2023 and again in 2024, and it was the rise in financial assets that enabled total household wealth to grow by 0.7% in 2024 (Insee Première No. 2081).

Wealth by age: accumulation up to the age of 60

Gross wealth by age, beginning of 2024. Source: INSEE, Insee Focus No. 371

Wealth accumulates throughout working life, peaks at around 60, stabilises and then declines after 75. Households aged 50 to 79 hold 61% of total wealth even though they account for only half of all households.

This concentration among older people has a direct consequence for the rural market: a large share of houses, farms and land will be passed on in the coming years, which feeds the supply of properties for sale (see the section on inheritance below).

Business assets: the special case of farmers

Gross wealth by socio-professional category, beginning of 2024 (selection). Source: INSEE, Insee Focus No. 371

Farming households have the highest median wealth of all categories: €903,100, i.e. 4.4 times the national median. Even the least wealthy 10% of farmers own more than €196,300. This figure should nevertheless be read with caution:

• 59% of this wealth is business-related (land, buildings, livestock, equipment). It is a working tool, not available savings.
• 94% of farming households hold business assets, compared with 15.3% of all households, and 25.9% carry business debt (compared with 1.4% on average) (Insee Focus No. 354).
• The wealth is gross: it does not take into account loans, which are often heavy at the start of a career.

Retired former self-employed people retain substantial wealth (€586,200 on average). Some of them still own land that they let to a tenant farmer: this land then leaves their business assets and becomes income-generating property.

Farmland, woodland, country houses: the place of rural assets

National statistics do not distinguish rural from urban real estate. Market data nevertheless make it possible to gauge the main components of rural wealth.

The farmland market in 2025. Sources: SAFER, Le prix des terres, 2026 edition; observatory of agricultural land prices in France

Three characteristics set farmland apart from other wealth assets:

• A stable but sluggish value. Between 2021 and 2025, the average DVF price rose by 4.4% in nominal terms, well below inflation (around 14%). Land offers poor protection against inflation in the short term, but it came through the residential property price falls of 2023 and 2024 without any major shocks. The long-term history is traced in our article on the price of vacant land since 2011.
• A regulated market. The SAFER pre-emption right, the farm structures control (contrôle des structures) and the French agricultural tenancy regime (statut du fermage) govern sales and limit speculation.
• Low liquidity. A land sale takes several months (clearing pre-emption rights, finding buyers), and leased land sells at a discount compared with vacant land.

For wealthy households, farmland, forests and prestige properties are also tools for diversification and estate planning, notably thanks to partial exemptions from inheritance tax and IFI (French real estate wealth tax) on rural property let under long-term leases and on woods and forests covered by a management commitment. To find out the value of your plots, our land valuation study is based on actual transactions in your area; for houses, farms and estates, see our rural property price observatory.

Inheritance and transfer: when wealth changes hands

Inheritance is a major determinant of wealth. According to INSEE, three people in ten have inherited during their lifetime, and the households concerned own almost twice as much gross wealth as those that have never inherited (Insee Références, 2024 edition, 2021 data).

A study published in October 2026 (Insee Analyses No. 125) measures home transfers comprehensively for the first time:

Each year, an average of 702,000 homes are transferred: 519,000 through inheritance and 183,000 through gifts. The heir is 54 years old on average and, in most cases, already owns their home. The property received therefore does not meet a housing need, which explains why it is so often sold.

In the countryside, selling an inherited property combines several difficulties: agreement of all co-owners in joint ownership (indivision), valuation of composite properties (house, outbuildings, land, woodland), and pre-emption rights of the tenant farmer and the SAFER. We detail them in our guide to selling an inherited house or rural property: joint ownership, taxation and timeframes to know in 2026.

France compared with the euro area

The Banque de France distributional accounts allow a harmonised comparison with other euro area countries. According to data published in 2024 for the second quarter of 2023, the wealthiest 10% of households held 54% of net wealth in France, compared with 56% across the euro area as a whole. In both cases, the less wealthy half of households owned only around 5% of net wealth.

These proportions are higher than those of the INSEE survey (48% for the wealthiest 10%), because they relate to net wealth and correct for the under-representation of very large fortunes. France thus appears slightly less unequal than the euro area average, thanks in particular to its high rate of owner-occupied main residences. The series are updated every quarter on the Banque de France statistics portal.

Frequently asked questions about French household wealth

What is the median wealth of French households?

At the beginning of 2024, median household wealth was €205,100 gross and €148,100 net, i.e. after deducting loans. Half of all households own less, the other half own more (INSEE, Histoire de vie et Patrimoine survey 2023-2024).

What is the average wealth of a French household?

Average gross wealth stood at €374,900 at the beginning of 2024. It is 1.8 times higher than the median, because it is pulled upwards by the largest fortunes. The higher amounts sometimes quoted (around €450,000) come from the national accounts, whose scope is broader.

What share of French household wealth is real estate?

Real estate accounts for 61% of average household gross wealth, ahead of financial assets (22%), business assets (11%) and durable goods (6%). For middle-class households, this share rises to 75%.

How much wealth do you need to be in the richest 10%?

You need more than €857,700 in gross wealth, or more than €750,400 in net wealth, to be among the wealthiest 10% of households. The threshold for the top 1% exceeds €3 million gross.

Why do farmers have such high wealth?

Their median gross wealth (€903,100) is the highest of all categories because it includes their working tools: land, buildings, livestock and equipment make up 59% of their wealth. This capital is not very liquid and is often financed by borrowing, which explains the gap with sometimes modest incomes.

Why do wealth figures differ from one source to another?

The INSEE survey questions households and is used to calculate medians and deciles; the national accounts measure total amounts over a broader scope; the Banque de France combines the two and corrects the top of the distribution. Always check whether the figure refers to gross or net wealth, to an average or a median, and to which year.

Conclusion

The latest figures confirm the central place of real estate in French household wealth, but also its limits: a value that generates no income until the property is sold or let, and that can fall, as 2023 and 2024 have shown. Rural wealth is an extreme illustration of this: farming households are the best-off in the country on paper, with capital tied up in their working tools. Transfer is the moment when this value is revealed, and almost one inherited home in three is sold within three years.

Whether you are considering selling an inherited property, investing in land or a forest, or buying a country house, the listings of rural properties and agricultural estates published on ma-propriete.fr give you a concrete view of the market.

Find out more

• Selling an inherited house or rural property: joint ownership, taxation and timeframes
• The different forms of property ownership: joint ownership, dismemberment of ownership, SCI
• Observatory of agricultural land prices in France
• How to value agricultural land?
• How much does a second home really cost per year?

Main sources: INSEE, Insee Focus No. 354 (May 2025) and No. 371 (December 2025); INSEE and Banque de France, Insee Première No. 2081 (November 2025); INSEE, Insee Analyses No. 125 (October 2026); FNSAFER, Le prix des terres, 2026 edition; DVF data processed by ma-propriete.fr.