In France, 4.7 million people, or 7.4% of the population, are rich if we consider their income, according to the Observatory of Inequalities (AFP/Archives/MIGUEL MEDINA)
In France, 4.7 million people, or 7.4% of the population, are rich if we consider their income: in ten years, they have become fewer in number, but are on the other hand “richer”, according to a report by an association, the Observatory of Inequalities, published Wednesday.
From what income are we rich in France? 3,860 euros per month in 2021 for a single person, taxes deducted, 5,790 euros for a couple, and 9,650 euros for a family with two teenagers, estimates this Observatory, which chose to use the same criterion as the OECD and the government German, twice the median income.
If INSEE defines a poverty threshold (1,158 euros in 2021), it does not set a wealth threshold.
According to calculations by the Observatory based on figures from INSEE, from 2011 to 2021, the percentage of people considered rich according to this criterion fell by 1.5 points and their number fell by 784,000, under the effect both tax reforms and the rise in the median standard of living. But these “rich” people are better off.
– “Huge gap” –
The typical profile? A senior executive, older and male: 43% of wealthy employees are senior executives in the private sector, 21% in the civil service and 3% are general or deputy directors of companies. If we consider wealthy assets, 23% are self-employed (doctors and specialists, lawyers, notaries, accountants, etc.), according to 2019 data analyzed by the Observatory.
Haussmannian buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris (AFP/Archives/Philippe LOPEZ)
Twice as many men as women have an income in the highest 10%.
Age also matters: 1% of households under 30 receive income allowing them to be considered rich, 10% of 55-59 year olds but 15% of 60-64 year olds, according to this third report from the Observatory, carried out thanks to crowdfunding.
Beyond the 0.1% of ultra-rich, “the gap is enormous between this France which lives well, takes full advantage of the consumer society, and the popular and middle categories”, underlines its director, Louis Maurin, author of the relationship with Anne Brunner.
The income-rich are largely the same as the wealth-rich – a category reached from 531,000 euros of wealth for a household in 2021 (i.e. three times the median wealth) – according to the Observatory.
– Spacious accommodation –
Some 87% of the “rich” in terms of income own their home, compared to 58% of other households, and 63% own a second property (secondary home, rental accommodation, etc.), compared to 22%, according to 2019 data analyzed by Vivien Charbonnet, director of development of the Observatory.
These wealthy people are concentrated in Paris, particularly in the western districts (AFP/Archives/THOMAS SAMSON)
“The creation of this real estate asset is the first step in an accumulation strategy: the income generated from it makes it possible to increase the fortune which, in turn, provides income,” notes the Observatory.
The wealthiest 10% thus captured 47% of the total wealth of French households in 2021, a figure up six points in ten years.
The “rich” also live in larger housing, with some 50% more space in small towns and the Paris metropolitan area and almost 70% in large cities (excluding Paris), according to work carried out by Mr. Charbonnet at the University of Tours.
These wealthy people are concentrated in Paris (particularly in the western districts) and in Hauts-de-Seine (Neuilly-sur-Seine, etc.). In the provinces, they live in particular near the Swiss border: Veyrier-du-Lac, near Annecy, comes first in 2020 in the Observatory’s ranking of small towns where the rich are the richest, with more than 10,000 euros per month of income for 10% of its inhabitants.
© 2024 AFP
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