Economists warned that after 14 years of relative stability, wealth inequality in the UK has increased. This is contrary to the trend in many other countries, where the gap between these countries has been steadily widening.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of the United Kingdom on Friday, between April 2018 and March 2020, the richest 10% of households owned 43% of the total wealth of the United Kingdom. In contrast, the lower half of the population only accounts for 9%.

However, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of the United Kingdom, wealth inequality measured by the Gini coefficient has basically remained stable in the past 14 years.

This is in stark contrast to many countries where wealth inequality increased between 2000 and 2019, including the United States, Italy, Russia, and China. estimate Credit Suisse. During this period, wealth inequality in France and Germany also remained stable or declined.

In the UK, the richest 1% hold more than 3.6 million pounds, while the least wealthy 10% hold only 15,600 pounds or less.

Arun Advani, an assistant professor at the University of Warwick, said these are “astonishing discoveries”, adding that the gap between rich and poor may be underestimated because “the richest people are unlikely to respond to the survey.” “.

In addition, wealth from corporate ownership was not included in the survey, which created further distortions.

Robert Palmer, executive director of taxation justice in the UK, said that even before the coronavirus crisis, “wealth inequality was clearly entrenched”.

Krishan Shah, a researcher at the Think Tank Resolution Foundation, pointed out that “because of the limited financial resources to protect them from economic shocks, the poorest families are undoubtedly in the worst situation”.

The latest data from ONS is the most comprehensive wealth distribution data set, but it does not cover the period of the pandemic.

Individual ONS data release Last month it was shown that as economists warned that income equality and social mobility would have a profound impact, the total wealth of the UK increased during the crisis.

“The strong growth of global stock markets and UK house prices has significantly increased the wealth of pension holders and homeowners, who are in the upper middle part of the wealth distribution,” said David Sturrock, an economist at the Institute of Finance. Express. Think tank.

He added that most of the savings accumulated during the pandemic belonged to high-income households, while low-income households “have used their savings and increased debt.”

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of the United Kingdom, in the two years ending in March 2020, the wealthiest top 1% held an average of approximately £2 million in family pension assets. The least wealthy 10% hold only the wealth of physical assets such as cars and furniture.

The richest 1% of financial wealth, such as the wealth held by stocks, is more than the bottom 80% of the population.

ONS data also reveals significant differences between age groups. The median wealth of people aged 55 to 65 is about 25 times that of people aged 16 to 24, reflecting the difference in property and pension assets.

The median wealth in the southeast of the wealthiest region is 503,400 pounds, which is about three times that of the lowest-asset northeast, at 168,500 pounds.

In London, the wealth of an average family is £340,300-slightly higher than the national average, but much lower than the wealthiest areas.

This reflects the country’s lowest capital ownership rate, low private pension participation rates and declining median wealth. It is still the region with the most uneven distribution of wealth.