Global household wealth grew by 10.8% in 2025, its fastest pace since 2017, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2026. Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) led all regions with 17.5% growth, boosted by strong financial markets, rising real estate values and the weaker US dollar.
For the Balkans, however, the report highlights a region increasingly divided into three distinct economic tiers.
Croatia and Slovenia consolidate their lead
The biggest winners remain the EU members.
Slovenia continues to stand out as one of Eastern Europe’s wealthiest societies, ranking among the world’s leading countries in median wealth per adult, a measure that better reflects the financial position of ordinary households than average wealth. Croatia, meanwhile, is one of the world’s fastest-growing wealth markets since 2020, recording real wealth growth of more than 25%.
Their EU membership, euro adoption (Croatia), stronger property markets and access to European investment continue to widen the gap with the Western Balkans.
Bulgaria and Romania quietly outperform
Perhaps the report’s biggest regional surprise is Bulgaria.
Although still among the EU’s lower-income economies, Bulgaria ranks among the strongest performers globally in real average wealth growth since 2020, alongside South Korea, Croatia and Norway. Romania also continues to benefit from steady wealth accumulation supported by investment, infrastructure development and EU funding.
This suggests that Eastern Europe’s convergence with Western Europe is accelerating faster inside the EU than outside it.
Western Balkans remain outside the wealth surge
The report does not include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia or Serbia among its 56 analysed wealth markets, making direct comparisons impossible.
However, broader regional indicators paint a more cautious picture.
According to the World Bank, economic growth across the Western Balkans is expected to slow to 2.8% in 2026, reflecting geopolitical uncertainty, inflation and weaker external demand.
Without sustained growth in household assets, financial markets and property values, wealth accumulation in the region is likely to lag behind the rest of Europe.
Wealth is more than income
The UBS report measures net wealth, not salaries.
It includes:
- financial assets;
- property ownership;
- pensions;
- investments;
- minus household debt.
That distinction matters for the Balkans.
Several countries have experienced wage growth in recent years, but household wealth has not necessarily increased at the same pace because financial markets remain underdeveloped, home ownership often lacks high market value, and investment portfolios are limited.
EU integration increasingly becomes a wealth story
The new report reinforces a broader trend visible over the past decade.
Countries fully integrated into the European Union are not only recording faster GDP growth—they are also generating wealth faster for households.
For the Western Balkans, this raises an increasingly important policy question: is EU accession becoming as much about household wealth creation as about political integration?
As Europe’s wealth expands at its fastest pace in nearly a decade, the divide is no longer simply between East and West. It is increasingly between countries inside the EU’s economic architecture and those still waiting to join.