German citizens put aside €388.5 billion last year. This puts them in undisputed first place in Europe – followed by France with €260.7 billion. Yet the situation is very different in terms of wealth, as shown in a new infographic from Block-Builders.de.
People in Europe are wealthier than ever. German citizens saved 45% more in 2020 compared to 2019, with a substantial portion of this money going into the stock market: €49 billion to be precise.
Per capita savings in Germany in 2020 amounted to €4,671, while the EU average was €3,121.
As can be seen in the infographic, the savings ratio has recently been increasing considerably. It stood at 23.48% last year, compared to 18.42% in 2019. In the euro area, the rate rose from 12.94% to 19.71% over the same period. Yet anyone concluding from this that Germans are particularly well-off would be mistaken.
Not only are an above-average number of Germans without any savings whatsoever, Germans also perform relatively poorly in terms of average wealth (median). In 2019, this amounted to the equivalent of US$35,313. For comparison: in Switzerland, it is US$227,891, while in France (US$101,942), the United Kingdom (US$97,452) and many other countries, average wealth is also significantly higher. The reasons for this appear to be manifold; market observers often cite the following, among other things: the low rate of home ownership, the preference for savings accounts and a reluctance to invest in volatile assets.
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