£600 billion wiped off UK's 'net worth' in 2023

The UK’s “net worth” has fallen by more than £600 billion since 2022, according to new figures from the Official for National Statistics.

The national balance sheet, which is the total value of all assets in the UK, came to £12 trillion. That’s a little less than £200,000 per person.

Non-produced assets - such as land - made up more than half of that total, at £6.8 billion. The value of land in the UK fell by 6.3% during the year. It was the first time since 2011 - in the wake of the global financial crisis - that the value of land in the UK fell.

The value of land used for homes, which makes up most of the value of land in the UK, was down by 4.4%, while the drop in value of land used for commercial properties was even steeper, but contributed less to the overall decline.

A further £6.1 trillion came from produced assets, while the UK’s financial net worth was negative, at minus £800 billion, as debt grew. The value of houses themselves - when removed from the land they sit on - was up.

Households held most of the net worth, at £11.5 trillion. However, that’s down 0.8% from a year earlier. The decline was mostly in non-produced assets, which is likely due to the impact of higher interest rates on the value of land. The value of land held by households fell by 5%.

The UK’s household net worth is now lower than it was in 2020.