Status: 12/12/2022 10:49 am
According to a survey by the major bank ING, around 30 percent of all Germans have no reserves. The reason for this is not just inflation.
Rising energy and food prices have eaten up the savings of many people in Germany. In a survey conducted by the Ipsos opinion research institute on behalf of ING Bank, around 30 percent of the Germans surveyed stated that they had no reserves. “As the main reason for the lack of savings, around every eighth person concerned gives the recent sharp rise in prices,” says the study.
According to preliminary figures, the inflation rate in Germany was ten percent in November. With most pandemic restrictions lifted and energy and food prices soaring, German finances are once again under pressure. However, inflation was not the main reason for the lack of savings: Among those surveyed without savings, around 57 percent said they did not earn enough to put money aside.
Germany still “land of savers”?
According to the study, half of those surveyed save primarily on daily needs, clothing and expenses for catering. In addition, three out of ten respondents said they never spend money on education. Those surveyed also want to reduce their spending on gastronomy and leisure activities in the future: “Bad omens for sectors that have already suffered badly from the measures taken to combat the corona pandemic,” write the ING researchers.
According to the authors of the study, Germany is only the “country of savers” in absolute terms: the proportion of those who have large reserves increased; but the number of people with little savings increased even more. The conclusion is that if three out of ten Germans have no savings, that alone should be a warning signal with regard to unequal opportunities to build up reserves.
Savings rate down
Since the beginning of this year, the savings rate of German private households has fallen by almost five percent. According to the Bundesbank’s monthly report for November, the savings rate of Germans was 14.3 percent in the first quarter and 10.3 percent in the second quarter.
In the third quarter of the year, only an average of 9.6 percent of disposable income was put aside. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the savings rate in Germany had reached a historic high of 18.2 percent in the first half of 2021 due to the pandemic.