ব্যঙ্গাত্মক বর্ণনা এবং ফরেক্সের প্রবেশদ্বার বিন্যাস
Conservative savings habits drain €1.17tn of potential gains from European households
European households missed out on at least €1.17 trillion of potential wealth by keeping money in bank deposits, according to ING analysts. The bank says this conservative habit not only strips citizens of returns but also materially slows economic growth across the region.
The savings rate in Europe has reached 6% of income, exceeding pre‑pandemic levels. That has weighed on current consumption, but the bigger problem is capital allocation. ING’s calculations show that if, between 2002 and 2025, even a quarter of new deposits had been channeled into investment funds, Europeans’ wealth would have risen by an amount equivalent to roughly 7% of eurozone GDP. Direct equity investments could have generated an additional €2.79 trillion. Instead, funds sit in bank accounts, constraining finance for businesses. Banks lend to creditworthy firms but shy away from higher‑risk technology sectors. By comparison, US household liquid investments are about five times larger than their deposits, while in Europe, the ratio is barely half.
Financial habits are, however, slowly shifting. Since 2025, the share of savings directed to investment funds has risen to 37% from 24% in the previous decade. Deposits’ share of liquid assets has fallen from 67% to 62%. Half of well‑off households have begun investing, and a further 30% are open to doing so. The main barrier to reallocating capital remains fear: 42% of Europeans genuinely equate stock markets with casinos, and 35% admit to having no financial knowledge.
প্রকাশিত 15 September 2026
© InstaFintech Group
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© InstaFintech Group
