Irish household wealth has more than doubled over the past decade, according to a new report from stockbrokers Davy.
The 'Wealth in Ireland' study found that the figures have risen from €573 billion in 2014 to €1.32 trillion last year. It is also projected to double again by 2035, to approach €2.6tn.
Davy said that the increase represents "a remarkable recovery since the global financial crisis".
However, the report cautions that much of the increase reflects house price inflation, predominantly private homes, rather than the accumulation of a diversified and transactable wealth."
"The rate of accumulation of non-housing wealth, while strong in absolute and relative terms, has lagged the performance of our domestic economy."
It said the gap reflects the "under-management of financial resources by Irish households, including an under-provision for retirement, and a sluggish growth in the reported value of Irish-owned businesses".
The report concluded that Irish households are "saving in line with eurozone peers, with strong growth in net savings".
"Our financial resources are, however, not optimised for financial return, owing to some combination of under-management, under-investment and risk aversion.
"We are not exploiting the opportunity offered by pensions for tax-efficient investing, with private sector workers carrying an estimated pension deficit of €250 billion in 2024."
Davy estimated in the report that that there are 75,000 wealthy households in Ireland from a total of 1.9 million.
"Most households are still working to put the fundamentals of home, emergency funds and pension provision appropriate to their working life stage in place.
"Looking forward, the outlook for Irish wealth is very positive with structural momentum. The number of older households is growing in absolute and relative terms, house supply is expanding and the income basis for house prices is solid."
The Chief Executive of Davy said the story of Irish wealth in the past decade "is one of resilience and a strong testament to the resourcefulness of our society in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis".
Gavin Kelly said net wealth has more than doubled and he added that "Ireland now sits among the wealthier countries in the euro area, with much healthier balance sheets than a decade ago".
"However, when we look a little deeper and consider the nature of that wealth, it becomes clearer why so many households feel financially insecure despite Ireland's very strong headline wealth statistics."
Mr Kelly said a large share of what counts as wealth today "is tied up in housing or reflects valuation rather than accumulation".
"Once we adjust for the family home and ensuring sufficient cash buffers and pension provision, many households have far less investable wealth than the headline figures suggest."
The Davy boss also noted that participation in pensions, financial markets and business ownership is still too uneven.
