How Rich is the Average Australian? A Deep Dive into Our National Wealth

Have you ever wondered how your wealth compares to other Australians? It's a natural question, and the answer reveals a lot about our economy, the opportunities available, and the challenges different generations face.

This guide will take you through Australia’s average and median net wealth, break it down by age group, and show you exactly where the wealthiest and least wealthy stand.

What is Net Wealth?

First, let's get clear on what we mean by "net wealth" or "net worth." It's a simple calculation:

Net Wealth = Everything You Own - Everything You Owe

Think of it as the total amount of money you would have left if you sold all your assets (your home, car, super, savings, and investments) and used that money to pay off all your debts (your mortgage, credit cards, and other loans). It's one of the simplest and most reliable indicators of your overall financial health.

The Big Picture: Australia's National Wealth

As a nation, Australia is incredibly wealthy.

• Average Net Wealth: In September 2024, the average net wealth per adult in Australia was about $836,000. This placed Australia fourth in the world in 2023, behind only Switzerland, the United States, and Hong Kong.
• Median Net Wealth: A more realistic figure for the "person in the middle" is the median wealth. According to the 2024 UBS Global Wealth Report, Australia's median individual net wealth was approximately $392,000 AUD ($261,805 USD). This puts us second in the world for median wealth per adult, only behind Luxembourg.

This wealth comes from a collective household wealth of $16.9 trillion, which is made up of roughly $20.07 trillion in assets minus $3.18 trillion in liabilities. The two biggest components of our assets are:

• Property: Land and dwellings make up over $11.36 trillion, accounting for about 57% of total assets.
• Superannuation: This represents another 20% of total assets.

The Rich List: A Look at the Top End of Town

While these national figures are impressive, Australia's wealth is very unevenly distributed.

• Billionaires: Gina Rinehart holds the title of Australia's richest person, with a net wealth of $13.2 billion. She is followed by 43 other billionaires who collectively hold a net worth of $201.8 billion USD.
• Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals: In 2023, there were 15,347 Australians with a net worth of $30 million USD or more.
• The Top 1%: To be in the top 1% of wealth holders in Australia, you need a net worth of over $7 million AUD (roughly $4.7 million USD). There are approximately 209,000 Australians in this exclusive group.
• Millionaires: About 1.8 million Australians, or close to 9% of the adult population, have a net worth exceeding $1.5 million AUD ($1 million USD).

On the other end of the spectrum, the bottom 20% of the Australian population holds just 0.7% of the nation's wealth. Their combined net worth of about $118 billion is less than the combined wealth of Australia's eight richest individuals. This shows that wealth is distributed even less equally than income.

Wealth by Age: How Do You Compare?

Age plays a significant role in our ability to build wealth. To get a clearer picture, we can look at the average household net wealth for three key age groups, based on the ABS data from 2019-2020.

Average Household Net Wealth

• Young Adults (25-40): $448,000
• Middle-Aged Adults (41-64): $1.24 million
• Retirees (65+): $1.43 million

Since average figures can be skewed by the exceptionally wealthy, the median household net wealth is a better indicator of a "typical" household.

Median Household Net Wealth

• Young Adults (25-40): $238,000
• Middle-Aged Households (41-64): $809,000
• Retirees (65+): $817,000

These figures paint a clear picture of the natural lifecycle of wealth accumulation. Wealth tends to grow with age, driven by home ownership, investments, and superannuation, with the largest gains typically occurring in our middle-aged, peak earning years.

The Great Divide: Wealth Inequality Across Generations

While wealth naturally grows with age, the data also reveals a significant generational divide. Younger generations face structural barriers like high property prices and stagnant wage growth, making it much harder to build wealth compared to older generations who benefited from earlier entry into the property market.

This growing gap is stark when we compare the top and bottom tiers within each age group.

• For young households, the top 25% hold nearly 7 times the wealth of the bottom 25%.
• For middle-aged households, the top 25% hold 4 times the wealth of the bottom 25%.
• For retiree households, the top 25% hold just over 3 times the wealth of the bottom 25%.

This shows that Australia's wealth distribution is becoming increasingly uneven with each generation.