Spain's Under-35s Have Lost Almost Three Quarters of Their Wealth Since 2008

A Lost Generation of Wealth

Young Spanish households have suffered a dramatic collapse in their financial position over the past sixteen years. According to the Bank of Spain's 2024 Household Financial Survey, the average net worth of households headed by someone under 35 has fallen by 72% since 2008 — from €81,700 to just €22,900.

That is not a dip or a setback. It is a near-total erosion of the wealth that young Spanish households had accumulated before the financial crisis — and the data shows they have never recovered it.

The Numbers Tell the Story

The survey paints a stark picture across multiple indicators:

• Net worth: Fallen from €81,700 (2008) to €22,900 (2024) — a drop of 72%
• Annual wages: Rose from €29,200 to €32,000 — an increase of just 10% over 16 years
• Cost of living: Rose by 38% over the same period
• Homeownership rate (under-35s): Collapsed from 66% in 2008 to 36.7% in 2024
• Annual food spending: Fell from €5,200 to €4,800 — a sign of squeezed budgets

The gap between wages and inflation is the central problem. A 10% rise in earnings against 38% inflation means that in real terms, young workers in Spain are significantly worse off than their equivalents were before the financial crisis — despite sixteen years of economic recovery at a national level.

The Housing Crisis at the Heart of It

The most visible consequence — and in many ways the most damaging — is the collapse in homeownership. Nearly two thirds of under-35 households owned their home in 2008. Today that figure is barely more than one in three.

Several factors have driven this:

• Surging property prices — particularly in cities and coastal areas — have placed purchase far beyond the reach of most young earners
• Rising rental costs — in many Spanish cities, rents now consume a majority of a young person's take-home pay
• Stricter lending requirements — banks require larger deposits and apply tighter affordability tests than before the crisis

Those who have managed to buy are doing so more modestly: the average primary residence for under-35 buyers is valued at €168,000, with mortgages averaging €90,000 — smaller loans reflecting both lower purchasing power and more cautious borrowing.

One more positive data point: only 4.1% of young households now spend more than 40% of their income on debt repayments, compared to 24% in 2008 — suggesting that those who have taken on debt are doing so more carefully, even if far fewer can afford to buy at all.

A Shrinking Generation

The survey also highlights a demographic dimension: young households now represent just 7.8% of all households in Spain. An ageing population, later family formation and the economic pressures on young people are all contributing to a situation where the under-35 cohort is a shrinking share of the total — compounding the political and economic challenges of addressing their situation.

What It Means in Practice

For many young people in Spain, the data reflects lived experience: years of precarious employment, stagnant wages, unaffordable rents and a sense that the homeownership and financial security their parents' generation took for granted is simply out of reach.

For expats — particularly those who moved to Spain as adults and may have arrived with savings or equity from property elsewhere — this context is important for understanding the Spain that younger residents and workers actually inhabit. The country's famous quality of life comes at a very different price depending on when you were born and where you started.

This article is based on reporting from The Olive Press, published April 26, 2026, drawing on the Bank of Spain's 2024 Household Financial Survey.