Total household wealth in Ireland passed the €1 trillion barrier at the start of the year, according to a new report from National Irish Bank (NIB).

That amounts to €674,000 for the average Irish family. Excluding owner-occupied housing, the figure is €352,000. On the flip side, household debt averages €127,000 across the State.

Irish people have concentrated their wealth in property. Owner-occupied housing, ie family homes, account for almost half of all household wealth in Ireland and a further 20 per cent is attributable to property investment. That has been the main driver of Irish family wealth over the past decade as property values boomed.

However, the lack of diversification also means that wealth is likely to accumulate at a far slower pace in the forseeable future. NIB chief economist Ronnie O'Toole, who co-authored the report, said increased savings helped household wealth break the €1 trillion threshold despite a calamitous year in 2007 for both residential property and the Irish Stock Exchange. "The rate of growth in household wealth slowed to just 3 per cent last year from a heady 16 per cent in 2006," according to the report.

The report totted up the State's wealth by assessing the value of different asset classes - residential housing stock, the amount held in pension funds, bank deposits and unitised funds. However, not everything was included.

"Art and wine would be other sourcesof wealth for people but, especially with wine, assessing the value of wine investments would by too difficult and would only yield a nonsense figure," said Dr O'Toole.

"There is not going to be an increase in property values of any significant magnitude over the next few years and, so, we would expect that growth in household wealth will be in the low to mid single digits," he said.

Garvan Callan, co-author of the report, said the increased wealth of the nation was evident across a range of areas. "You only have to look at the changes in lifestyle to gauge the amount of wealth that now exists. Take travel - Irish people are spending more on holidays than ever before and are choosing more exotic locations.

"Look at the cars we are now buying. Since 2000, Jaguar has increased its market share by a third and Mercedes by a half, while the market share of Porsche has tripled. There are more Mercedes per capita in Ireland than in Germany where they are made."

Vincent Brown: page 16

150%

rise in the number of holiday nights spent in Asia and Middle East

Since 2003,

the Irish have

bought more private jets than

any country in Europe

More Mercedes per capita in Ireland now than in Germany

60%

of farms

bought around Dublin in 2006 were lifestyle purchases