Ireland ranked second in list of wealthiest nations

Ireland has been placed second in a list of the eight wealthiest OECD nations.

The report, which claims every Irish citizen is worth an average of €150,000, places Ireland ahead of the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, France, Germany and Canada.

The report, published today by Bank of Ireland Private Banking, says Ireland is second only to Japan, which has an average of over €205,000 per head of population.

The report measures wealth by taking account of privately owned assets such as property and financial assets such as pensions, shares, and other financial investments.

Despite the increase in house price inflation over the last decade, the report says the country has some 30,000 millionaires when the value of principal private residences are excluded.

Of these, 300 have an estimated value of more than €30 million, while some 2,700 are worth between €5 million and €30 million.

If the value of the principal private residence of citizens was taken into account, the number of millionaires in the Irish economy could be as high as 100,000, according to the Bank of Ireland report.

However, Pat O'Sullivan, Senior Economist and author of the report, said although debt as a percentage of disposable income had increased from 89 per cent to 140 per cent over the last five years, "the level of wealth provides an enormous cushion to borrowers".

Ireland has recorded a net growth in wealth of 350 per cent over the past decade, and the report forecasts it to reach €1.2 trillion by 2015.

It is predicted property will continue to be dominant but will no longer be the pre-eminent asset of choice; other assets, more particularly equity markets, bonds and cash, are predicted to come to the fore.

Personal savings stood at €10 billion at the end of 2005, and this is forecast to reach €13.5 billion by 2010 and €24 billion by 2015.