Germans worse off for their propensity to save
A typical, average German citizen’s wealth only comes to about US$35,300 while the Brits’ per capita wealth is 176% more.
As a new report from Kryptoszene.de shows, German citizens are also far behind when it comes to owning property in an EU comparison. The reason for this, according to the survey on which the report is based, is a lack of enthusiasm for real estate, stocks and cryptocurrencies.
51.5% of Germans own residential property. This places Germany at the bottom end of the scale in an EU comparison. The ratio is highest in Romania with 96.4%. In Mediterranean countries such as Spain (76.3%), Portugal (74.5%) and Italy (72.4%) the ownership rate is also significantly higher than in Germany.
As the report also shows, just 10% of the German population own shares. In Great Britain this figure is more than twice as high at 23%, and is even higher in the USA and the Netherlands. 67% of Germans say that they do not invest in shares because they are too afraid of high losses due to economic catastrophes.
Alternative investments are also in comparatively low demand in Germany. While 6% of respondents stated that they already having invested in digital currencies, here too the proportion is significantly higher in other countries. In Spain, for example, one in ten already has experience with cryptocurrencies, and in Turkey the figure is as high as 16%.
“Despite relatively low unemployment and a thriving economy, Germans possess on average significantly less wealth than many of their European neighbours,” said cryptoszene analyst Raphael Lulay. “Overall, the fear of losses is disproportionately strong. Instead, German citizens continue to cling to their savings books, and save themselves poor.”
