Description

This paper studies the non-pension wealth distribution of Chilean households using the Survey of Household Finances from 2011-12. Net wealth is defined as the difference between assets and liabilities, excluding the compulsory savings accumulated in the pension system. First, we analyze the wealth distribution and the relationship between the distribution of wealth and income. Second, we study the distribution of wealth components. The results show that households in the richest quintile own 72% of wealth and around 17% of households have a negative wealth. We also conclude that wealth distribution is more unequal than income distribution, and that the relationship between wealth and income is not strong. Regarding the components of wealth, we conclude that housing is the main asset of households and that mortgage debt represents 70% of the total debt. Finally, we show that main residence is the best distributed asset among households, in contrast with the high concentration shown by the financial assets.