Ireland is the second-wealthiest country in the world, according to research from the Bank of Ireland Private Banking. The Emerald Isle ...

Ireland is the second-wealthiest country in the world, according to research from the Bank of Ireland Private Banking. The Emerald Isle comes second to Japan in a survey of the top eight OECD nations, beating the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy and Canada. According to the research, the average wealth per head in Ireland is nearly €150,000 ($190,971). The study said there are around 30,000 euro millionaires in Ireland. More than 300 people are worth in excess of €30 million, the report estimates, with a further 2,700 possessing a net worth of between €5 million and €30 million, whilst the remaining having a net worth of between €1 million to €5 million. “A key defining characteristic of our wealth is that it is first generational by nature, with the vast bulk of our wealth having been created in the past 10 years,” said Mark Cunningham, BoI private banking managing director. "The report highlights that much of this wealth has been created through gains in property investment and through a willingness to borrow to invest further. It has been entrepreneurial and more risk-orientated than many other developed countries where inheritance features more prominently. "The current allocation of Irish wealth to equities and cash, by contrast, is less than any of the other countries in the report. However, we predict that this will change as property price increases move back to more realistic levels and an ageing population may act as catalysts to create growing interest in diversification into other assets, primarily investment and pension funds."