Wealth in the State hit a new all time high in the first quarter of this year, according to Central Bank of Ireland data which said that the gains were down to the rising value of household investments that offset a hit from falling house prices.

The Central Bank said that household net worth reached €772bn, which equates to €158,986 per person, or roughly €444,000 per household.

This was despite a drop in house prices, where, according to the bank, two consecutive quarters of declines lopped €2bn off wealth.

Despite ultra-low interest rates, households here have remained cautious and ·their fell by €0.6bn to €136.9bn, or €28,186 per person, its lowest level since 2005.

That is equivalent to 119.8pc of disposable income , a drop of 2.9 percentage points on the prior quarter, which was helped by rising wages that caused a 2.2pc rise in annualised disposable income.

Online Editors