Assets held by the top 10 richest charities in England and Wales were worth 1% more in 2023 than the year before, according to an analysis of Charity Commission data by Civil Society.
The total assets of the 10 wealthiest charities grew from £67bn to £67.7bn for financial years ending in 2023.
They accounted for 27% of the charity sector’s total assets in 2023, a proportion that remained the same as in 2022 but was a 1% decrease from 2021.
Meanwhile, the charity sector overall saw its total assets increase by 2% in 2023 to £255bn, up from £251bn the year before.
This was the third consecutive year of growth for the sector since Civil Society started reporting it.
However, inflation averaged 8.6% between 2022 and 2023, according to the Bank of England, so both the richest charities and the sector overall saw declines in real terms.
A newcomer in the top 10
Nine charities kept their spots in the top 10 wealthiest list, which also contained one newcomer.
SUTL Cazenove Charity Non-UCITS Fund, which differs from the other entries in that it is a charity investment management trust, rose from being ranked 11th on the list in 2022 to seventh in 2023.
The trust saw its assets grow by 26% from last year. This was the largest growth among any of the top 10 charities.
Among the 10, Garfield Weston Foundation had the second-largest asset growth at 16%, with total assets of £8.3bn in 2023.
The foundation rebounded from an asset decline of 27% in 2022, maintaining its position in third place in 2023.
Charities Aid Foundation, despite seeing a 5% asset growth from £1.76bn in 2022 to £1.84bn in 2023, dropped from seventh to eighth place.
Wellcome remained the charity with the largest assets – £33.5bn in 2023 – despite a 3% dip from last year’s £34.6bn.
Church Commissioners for England was the second-wealthiest charity, with total assets of £9.1bn in 2023, less than a third of those held by Wellcome.
The National Trust saw its assets decline to £1.58bn, from £1.7bn the year before, and was in 10th place.
Charities with assets over £1bn
There were fewer charities with assets worth over £1bn in 2023.
In 2021, 17 charities had assets worth over £1bn, which rose to 21 in 2022 then dipped to 20 in 2023.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation had assets of £1bn or more in 2022 but in 2023, it reported a 3% dip and saw its assets drop to £971m.
In 2022, the top 100 richest charities accounted for 48% of the sector’s wealth. That figure dropped slightly to 47% in 2023.
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