Net wealth per inhabitant in Portugal fell 1.6% between 2024 and 2025, according to the study The Global Balance Sheet 2026: Imbalance and Divergence, by the McKinsey Global Institute. This negative evolution contradicted the record achieved globally, where family wealth reached a historic high of 570 trillion dollars. The Portuguese case is particularly surprising given that it occurred in a context of a boom in the Portuguese stock market and a reduction in public debt by approximately four percentage points of GDP.
The study indicates that Portuguese household debt grew at a faster pace than their assets, which prevented Portuguese people from benefiting from stock market gains. Although the financial wealth of Portuguese families has more than doubled between 2005 and 2025, driven by greater participation in companies and investment funds, the majority of wealth continues allocated to deposits and certificates, products with lower returns.
Globally, the growth of family wealth raised questions about its solidity and stability, since only 20% of this growth resulted from the formation of new productive capital. Wealth grew faster than GDP, and the global balance sheet approached 1.8 trillion dollars.
The McKinsey Global Institute also warns that the world's major economies are following increasingly divergent trajectories in terms of growth, debt and productivity. Regarding Europe, the institute argues that the region is approaching a scenario of secular stagnation, marked by stagnant productivity and insufficient investment, despite high levels of savings, which may affect its future competitiveness.
