Spanish households richer than German counterparts?- According to a study published by the Bundesbank, Germans own fewer assets than their French, Italian and Spanish neighbours. A German household owns average assets of €195,200 as opposed to €229 300 in France, €265 000 in Austria and €285 800 in Spain. In fact, the difference is even more marked if the median or middle of the range figure is taken into account. This stood at €51,400 in Germany, €113,500 in France and €178,300 in Spain. These differences can be explained by the fact that the average estate in the former Eastern German regions is much lower than in the western regions, €67,000 compared to €230,000. The second explanation is that there are far more renters in Germany, although real estate is counted as part of one's assets. Therefore only 44% of households in Germany are homeowners, as opposed to 58% in France and 83% in Spain. These figures do, however, require a certain amount of qualification: the study does not include pensions and not all data was gathered over the same period: the German statistics date back to 2011, the French data relate to 2012 and the Spanish to 2008 only. (IL/transl.fl)