Saving rates across Europe
The Federal Statistical Office, known as Destatis, noted that private retirement provision plays a much larger role in Switzerland than in Germany. Elsewhere in Europe, gross household saving rates for 2025 were 17.8% in France, 17.4% in the Netherlands and 15.7% in Austria.
Italy's rate was particularly low within the EU at 10.8%, close to the 10.7% recorded in the United States.
Destatis draws the figures from Eurostat, the OECD for the United States, and national statistical offices in Germany, France and Switzerland. The figures for 2025 and the first half of 2026 remain provisional.
Germany's rate below its pandemic peak
Germany's gross saving rate remained at 18.9% in the first half of 2026, unchanged from the full-year figure for 2025 but below the 19.6% recorded in 2024.
The rate reached a peak of 22.9% in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, canceled vacations and temporary closures of leisure facilities left many people with more money unspent than usual.
The longer-term figures also put Germany behind Switzerland. From 2016 through 2025, Germany's gross saving rate averaged 19.1%, compared with 24.5% in Switzerland. The averages were 16.6% in France, 16.3% in the Netherlands, 15.3% in Austria, 12.1% in Italy and 13.0% in the United States.
What counts as gross saving
Destatis uses the gross saving rate for international comparisons because it is the only measure for which comparable data are available. It includes income households set aside in savings accounts or invest in stocks, along with newly accrued occupational pension entitlements.
The calculation makes no deduction for depreciation, primarily on real estate. That includes the gradual loss of value as an owner-occupied or rented home ages and wears out.
Gross saving is not all available for financial investments. In a September 2026 analysis, ING THINK estimated that housing and other fixed-capital spending absorbed almost 60% of eurozone household gross savings in 2025, or about €860 billion. The remaining €590 billion, roughly 40%, was available to buy financial assets or pay down liabilities.
Comparing eurozone and US savings
ING's analysis also examined the effect of measurement on comparisons with the United States. Using the harmonized OECD-Eurostat gross saving rate, it reported 2025 rates of 14.7% for the euro area and 10.7% for the United States. That puts the difference at about four percentage points, rather than the roughly 10-point gap suggested by headline figures.
For financial saving, ING put the eurozone rate at around 6% in 2025, approximately twice the US rate. The bank described that lead as a recent development: over 2010–2021, the eurozone's financial saving rate was lower on average than the US rate.
The ING Consumer Survey cited in the analysis also showed differences in how many households had savings. Across the eurozone countries covered, 75% of respondents said their household had some savings, ranging from 88% in the Netherlands to 68% in Germany.
