Germans save less - but still a lot

In 2025, Germans will have saved proportionately less of their disposable income than in the previous year.

At 18.9 percent, the so-called gross savings rate was still well above the European Union (EU) average of 14.3 percent, as the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced. In 2024 it was still 19.6 percent.

The rate will remain at this level this year too: in the first half of 2026 it was also 18.9 percent. In the past ten years, households in this country saved an average of 19.1 percent of their income.

The gross savings rate reached a high of 22.9 percent in 2020: During the corona pandemic, many people had more money left over than in normal times because, for example, vacation trips were canceled and leisure facilities were temporarily closed.

Meanwhile, the Germans were only surpassed in Europe by the Swiss, who saved 27.4 percent. However, private pension provision is much more important there than in this country.

In France, private households saved 17.8 percent of their gross disposable income last year, in the Netherlands it was 17.4 percent and in Austria 15.7 percent.

Within the European Union, private households in Italy saved particularly little, with a savings rate of 10.8 percent. This puts them almost at the level of the high-spending Americans, who only set aside 10.7 percent of their income for later.

The statisticians use the gross savings rate for the international comparison because this is the only comparable data available, as the Federal Office explains. This takes into account what private households put away from their disposable income, for example in savings accounts or invest in the stock market, as well as newly acquired entitlements in company pension schemes.

In addition, depreciation, especially on real estate, is not deducted from the gross savings rate. This refers to the so-called depletion of substance, i.e. the gradual loss of value of an apartment you use or rent due to wear and tear and ageing.