Germans continue stacking fiat, demonstrating remarkable financial discipline with a 10.4% savings rate in 2023. This puts them leagues ahead of other major economies like the US (4.7%), Japan (2.8%), and Italy (just 0.3%). Only Switzerland (19.4%) and the Netherlands (12.7%) showed stronger saving habits.
The trend is accelerating: H1 2024 shows Germans saving 11.1%, up 1.0% from last year. This comes after the covid savings boom of 2020-21, when rates jumped 6% higher than normal.
Low time preference winning despite high inflation? Based.
Compare:
- 🇨🇠Switzerland: 19.4%
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands: 12.7%
- 🇩🇪 Germany: 10.4%
- 🇺🇸 USA: 4.7%
- 🇯🇵 Japan: 2.8%
- 🇮🇹 Italy: 0.3%
Sound money culture still strong despite everything. Unfortunately, Germans are not converting their savings into assets. Their naïve basic trust in state institutions ensures that they can save as much as they like, but are constantly losing out due to the inflation that has been initiated. Despite the creepy politics, the culture of saving for capital accumulation remains at its base.