Germans are still saving at a level approaching the level of world saving champions, even if the overall savings rate has declined slightly recently. Last year, families in Germany allocated 18.9 percent of their available income to savings, according to the Federal Statistical Office in the city of Wiesbaden, southwestern Germany. This figure was much higher than the European Union average of 14.3 percent. However, Germany's overall savings rate was still 19.6 percent in 2024.
The Germans were only surpassed in Europe last year by the Swiss, who had a total savings rate of 27.4 percent. However, private saving for retirement is much more important there than in Germany.
According to the data released, Italian families were the least saving within the European Union in 2025, with the savings rate reaching 10.8 percent. Thus, this percentage was approximately close to the level of heavy spenders who allocated only 10.7 percent of their income to invest in the future.
Statisticians use the gross savings rate in international comparisons because comparable data are only available for this purpose, explains the Federal Statistical Office. This rate includes what families put of their disposable income, for example, into savings accounts or invest in the stock market, in addition to newly acquired entitlements in the retirement system.
Consumption operations, especially those related to real estate, are not deducted from the total savings rate. This means what is known as “asset depreciation,” that is, the gradual decline in the value of the apartment that the owner uses himself or that he rents as a result of wear and obsolescence.
The overall savings rate in Germany peaked in 2020 at 22.9 percent: during the Corona pandemic, many people had more spare money than in normal times, due to, for example, the cancellation of holiday trips and the temporary closure of leisure facilities.
Germans are known to save relatively large sums of money. The net savings rate usually ranges between 10 and 11 percent, meaning that for every 100 euros of disposable income, at least 10 euros are saved on average. In 2025, this savings rate in Germany reached 10.1 percent, according to the latest publications of the Federal Office. As for the first half of 2026, preliminary calculations indicate that the rate will reach 11.1 percent.
However, analyzes repeatedly show that investors in other countries are making greater returns on their money: this is because they rely less on daily and futures deposits, which often generate little interest returns, and instead invest more heavily in the stock market.
The latest “Wealth Index” from the German Association of Savings and Current Accounts confirms that many people in Germany have so far made little use of the long-term wealth-building potential of capital markets.
According to this, 75 percent of more than 4,800 survey participants consider regular saving important or very important. However, only a third of them follow a specific plan for saving or investing. 28 percent reported that they currently own stocks or other securities. Those who avoid the stock market primarily cite fear of not being able to assess risks (37 percent) as the reason for doing so.
Through the new retirement savings account, the state seeks to attract more people in Germany to the capital market as of January. Savers will then be able to invest in ETFs, stock funds and bonds with state support. The idea is that people can provide for their needs in old age with better opportunities by investing in the stock market.
