According to data released by UBS in the Global Wealth Report 2023, each Portuguese adult held, in median terms, a wealth of 66,015 euros at the end of last year, almost double that in 2012 (34,725 euros) and more 2.89% than in 2021 — which also translates into a global fortune of 149 thousand euros in 2022 (76% more than in 2012). Sustaining the growth of Portuguese assets over the last year, were real estate assets which, according to UBS analysts, similar to what happened in the rest of the world, “remained resilient, despite the rapid increase of interest rates”.

In addition, UBS analysts reveal that, at the end of last year, the number of Portuguese owners of a fortune of more than 1 million euros exceeded 166,000, equivalent to about 2% of the adult population. This is a number 23% higher than the number of millionaires registered at the end of 2020, or 31,000 new fortunes; and 8.7 thousand more millionaires than in 2021.

Ultra wealthy

And within the group of millionaires, the Global Wealth Report 2023 identifies 108 Portuguese with ultra-high fortunes (over 50 million dollars), with 9 having fortunes in excess of 500 million dollars (about 470 million euros).

Despite this growth, Portugal still represents very little in terms of global wealth: according to UBS data, the wealth generated in Portugal is equivalent to just 0.3% of world wealth. According to data from the Global Wealth Report 2023, the majority of Portuguese people (43%) have assets of between US$10,000 and US$100,000 (around 9,400 and 94,000 euros).

UBS analysts also reveal that the Portuguese are also less indebted than ten years ago. If in 2012, the debt for each Portuguese adult was almost 21 thousand euros, at the end of last year the debt burden dropped by 6.8% to 19.5 thousand euros.

The impact of this reduction is even more relevant when one observes that the debt-to-wealth ratio also dropped significantly: if in 2012 debt represented 60.3% of wealth mediated by each Portuguese adult, at the end of last year it weighed half, about 29.6%.