Economy Bundesbank
Financial assets of private households continued to rise
Status: 21.07.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Assets increased in the first three months of the current year compared to the previous quarter by 146 billion to around 7,393 billion euros
Quelle: Getty Images/sakchai vongsasiripat
You can listen to our WELT podcasts here
In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is required, since the providers of the embedded content as third-party providers require this consent [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (which can be revoked at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can withdraw your consent at any time via the switch and via privacy at the bottom of the page.
Price gains on the stock exchanges, investment funds and higher interest rates are making Germans richer again. Stocks, bonds and fund shares make up the smallest part of financial assets. Observable: In view of the turnaround in interest rates, many people are shifting funds.
Price gains on the stock exchanges and higher interest rates have made people in Germany richer overall. The financial assets of private households in Germany increased in the first three months of the current year compared to the previous quarter by 146 billion to around 7,393 billion euros, as the Deutsche Bundesbank announced on Friday in Frankfurt.
The recovery that began in the final quarter of 2022 thus continued. Previously, financial assets had shrunk three quarters in a row. The sum is still a long way from the record value of 7,624 billion euros that was reached at the end of 2021.
Cash, securities, bank deposits and claims against insurance companies are taken into account in the figures, but not real estate. The data does not show exactly how wealth is distributed.
also read
According to the Bundesbank, price gains on the stock exchanges had a positive impact in the first quarter of 2023. According to the information, the value of listed shares rose particularly sharply at 38 billion euros, especially compared to the first three quarters of 2022.
also read
But investment funds and pension and insurance claims were also lucrative for their holders, with 25 billion euros and 19 billion euros respectively in valuation gains. In addition, plenty of fresh money flowed into bonds: the purchase of so-called bonds stood out with a historic high of 30 billion euros.
Nevertheless, stocks, bonds and fund shares make up the smallest part of financial assets with a total of almost 2000 billion euros. By far the largest part is cash and bank deposits such as overnight and time deposits. At the end of the first quarter, this item totaled almost 3.1 trillion euros.
also read
However, in view of the turnaround in interest rates, many people shifted funds: For the first time since 2006, private households reduced their cash and deposit holdings overall, as the Bundesbank described – by 16 billion euros. While the cash holdings remained almost unchanged, sight deposits – i.e. money on current accounts that usually do not bear interest and overnight money – were reduced more than ever before at 56 billion euros. In return, private households increased their time deposits – i.e. time deposits – by a substantial EUR 45 billion.
Driven by extremely high inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) increased interest rates in the euro area in July 2022 for the first time in eleven years. Because higher interest rates make loans more expensive, which slows demand and can counteract high inflation rates. The key interest rate at which banks can get fresh money from the ECB is now 4.0 percent. Banks are now getting 3.5 percent interest on money they park with the central bank. The unprecedented turnaround in interest rates has made savings attractive again for banks and savings banks. Many institutes advertise with new interest rates for fixed-term deposits and overnight money. A drop of bitterness for savers: The still comparatively high inflation eats away at interest income.
You can listen to our WELT podcasts here
In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is required, since the providers of the embedded content as third-party providers require this consent [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (which can be revoked at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can withdraw your consent at any time via the switch and via privacy at the bottom of the page.
“Everything on shares” is the daily stock exchange shot from the WELT business editorial team. Every morning from 7 a.m. with our financial journalists. For stock market experts and beginners. Subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and Deezer. Or directly by RSS-Feed.