The European debt crisis left wealth more unevenly distributed in Greece and other eurozone countries at the center of the turmoil, according to a European Central Bank analysis.
In Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Portugal, the richest 10% held 51.8% of total net wealth in 2023, up from 46% in 2010, the study found.
The Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality, for the six countries stood at 65.9 points in 2023, compared with 61.5 in 2010. In the rest of the eurozone, it fell from 71.8 to 69.7, or 2.1 points below its 2010 level.
Inequality in the six countries continued rising until 2021 and stayed at the same level in 2023, the study said.
The gap widened mainly during the crisis years. As home prices collapsed, households that had borrowed to buy homes saw the value of their property fall while their debt remained. Lower-income households drained their savings, while stocks, held mainly by wealthier people, recovered faster.
Later, a decline in homeownership, particularly among younger people, limited many households’ ability to benefit from the recovery in property prices. Poorer households also took longer to rebuild savings.
