Financial assets: Private households overall are richer than ever

Save, save, save: Because people in Germany save an above-average amount and the stock markets rose sharply over the course of the year, private households as a whole are richer than ever. According to a projection by DZ Bank, nominal financial assets would amount to 9.3 trillion euros in 2024. This is an increase of almost six percent compared to the previous year.

“Even if the price levels on the stock markets grow more slowly in 2025 due to fluctuations and the private savings rate is somewhat lower, the prospects for building financial assets remain good overall,” predicts DZ Bank economist Michael Stappel. In 2025 he expects private financial assets to grow by a further 4 percent to 9.8 trillion euros.

Even after inflation has subsided, people in Germany are holding on to their money because the uncertainty surrounding the German economy remains high. More than one in ten euros in this country is saved and not put into consumption like in other countries.

Stappel assumes a savings rate of 11.5 percent for the full year 2024. There is already an official figure from the Federal Statistical Office for the first six months: 11.1 percent. This means that for every 100 euros of disposable income, an average of 11.10 euros was saved. This corresponds to an average amount of 280 euros per resident per month. According to statisticians, the savings rate in the third quarter of 2024 was also 10.6 percent, above the previous year’s level (9.4 percent), as the disposable income of private households rose faster than private consumption.

Germans almost save world champions

The savings rate in Germany reached record highs in the Corona years 2020 (15.9 percent) and 2021 (14.1 percent). In 2023 it was still 10.4 percent, but even with this the Germans were far ahead in an international comparison. Only in a few countries were savers more eager at the time, for example in Switzerland with a savings rate of 19.4 percent and in the Netherlands with 12.7 percent.

Inspiring booming stock markets

Traditionally, people in Germany park a lot of money in current accounts that often have low interest rates. According to DZ Bank figures, around 9.4 percent of private financial assets are now invested directly in stocks. That alone brought an increase in value of almost 200 billion euros last year.

Because the era of zero and negative interest rates is over, some fixed-term deposits are also worthwhile. Last year, private households’ interest income from bank deposits increased to around 30 billion euros due to further reallocations of funds and an overall higher interest rate level, wrote DZ Bank.

New Bundesbank figures in spring

The latest official figures on the development of financial assets of private households in Germany are expected from the Deutsche Bundesbank in the spring. Both the Bundesbank and the DZ Bank take into account cash and bank deposits, securities such as stocks and funds as well as claims against insurance companies in their analyses. Real estate is not included. Neither the Bundesbank nor DZ Bank provide any information about the distribution of assets.

Press page DZ Bank Federal Statistical Office: Germany’s savings rate in an international comparison Time series ECB key interest rates Federal Statistical Office on inflation in Germany Bundesbank: Financial assets 2023 Financial assets long series Verivox Daily money comparison Bundesbank: Financial assets Q2/2024