Report shows inequality, risk of poverty hardly change in Germany

Berlin: Inequality and risk of poverty have hardly changed in Germany, despite increases in overall wealth in recent years, according to a report published on Wednesday.

In 2021, the top 10 per cent of households in Germany held 56 per cent of the country's total wealth, placing Germany among the most unequal nations in Europe, according to the 2024 Social Report, jointly published by the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), and the Federal Institute for Population Research.

The disparity in wealth distribution is particularly stark between East and West Germany. On average, East German households hold just 150,900 euros (161,782 US dollars) in wealth, compared to 359,800 euros in the West - a gap that has seen little improvement over the past decade, the report noted.

It also highlighted that in eastern Germany, nearly one in four people aged 60 to 79 is at risk of poverty, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to WZB expert Philip Wotschack, as reported by the German news agency DPA, the persistent imbalance between East and West Germany is partly due to lower wage levels in the East, which limit wealth accumulation.

Additionally, property values in eastern Germany have shown little to no increase, partly due to population decline, he added.