What has been happening to wealth in the UK?
Wealth is rising
UK (private) wealth has been growing substantially over time. Wealth is harder to measure than income, and there is more argument about what assets one should include, but by any measure of wealth it has risen over the past 70 years.
Wealth has started to become more concentrated again
The share of wealth going to the richest fell between 1950 and the 1980s, but is now rising again.
Increases in wealth have been driven by property and pensions
Rising wealth has been driven by growth in the price of property and the value of private pensions. These are also the two largest asset classes in UK wealth, respectively making up 35% and 42% of aggregate wealth.
Some people have wealth that is many multiples of their income
Wealth has grown faster than income, so that wealth is a larger multiple of income than in the past. High wealth-to-income ratios are especially prevalent among the wealthiest.
Wealth is increasingly concentrated among the old
Wealth is typically accumulated over life, as incomes rise, mortgages are paid off, and more money is stored away for retirement. Even so, wealth has recently become more concentrated among older age groups.
Top wealth is concentrated in London and the South
High wealth individuals in Britain are geographically concentrated in London and the South.
Taxes on wealth are about average, compared to other rich countries
Wealth in the UK is neither heavily taxed nor lightly taxed by international standards, though this depends on how taxes on wealth are defined. There is currently no comprehensive tax on ownership of wealth in the UK, but as with other countries there are many taxes which relate to wealth.
Taxes on wealth have fallen, relative to total wealth
By any definition, taxes relating to wealth have become a less important part of the overall tax picture in the UK.