This study examines whether wealth inequality in Israel has widened or narrowed over the last decade. It serves as a follow-up to a previous report by the Institute that analyzed wealth disparities in Israel.
Unlike most prior research, which tends to focus on labor income inequality, this study uniquely explores economic inequality through the lens of wealth, including housing assets and financial holdings.
The research analyzes trends over the past decade, drawing on the Central Bureau of Statistics' long-term asset surveys from 2013 and 2020. This approach allows for a deeper understanding of wealth inequality dynamics over time, beyond the one-time snapshots provided in earlier studies.
The findings show that Israel is a wealthy nation, with household wealth totaling approximately 6.5 trillion shekels—a significant increase since the previous decade. However, this wealth is distributed very unevenly. One of the most striking results is that the top 1% of households own about a quarter of Israel’s total wealth. The data further reveal that wealth inequality has expanded during the examined period.