Germans’ investment behaviour has undergone a significant change in recent years. Although the Corona crisis has brought with it many uncertainties, German citizens are attaching less and less importance to security when it comes to investing. In a new infographic, Block-Builders.de outlines the most important changes.
These days, 46% of Germans indicate that a safe investment is the most important consideration for them. As recently as 2019, 57% expressed this sentiment. Perhaps for good reason – a period of low interest rates has meant that money in savings accounts is in fact decreasing in value due to inflation.
A look at the shareholder rate among 18 to 24-year-olds is particularly striking. In the last year of crisis it hovered around 39%, compared to 17% in 2017. Young people are in an investing frenzy and more and more are buying shares.
Another drastic change is the shift towards green investments. While just 6% of investors were putting their money into sustainable funds last year, this figure has now risen to 17%. As the infographic shows, significantly more than half of investors would even be prepared to accept lower returns for the sake of environmental protection.
Upheaval on the Stock Exchange Floor
Glaring shifts are also evident in terms of savings plans. Last December, there were 2.03 million of these plans in Germany. This is a 712% rise compared to 5 years ago.
In general, there is an increasing willingness to invest money instead of spending it on consumer goods or the like. If 16 to 24-year-olds had an extra €5,000 at their disposal, a representative survey found that they would put aside or invest more than half of it.
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