How much people near you in France are saving each year
A new study shows that where you live makes a big difference to the amount you save
There are regional divides in household savings across France, a new study shows
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Where you live makes a significant difference to the amount of money you have in savings, a new study on the savings habits of people in France has found.
A study by French fintech company Green-Got (and shared by specialist money website Moneyvox) shows that people in France save on average €5,650 per year, but that the amount saved can vary by up to 70% between regions, particularly when it comes to rural areas versus urban.
“The amounts saved in metropolitan areas compared to rural areas reveal a divide in the impact of inflation depending on the region,” the study states.
Residents in urban areas save €7,173 on average per year compared to €4,155 in rural areas. The national average has never been so high, the study found.
This dovetails with figures from the Banque de France, which in June last year showed that savings in the country had hit a record €6,477.6 billion – with life insurance policies the leading type, far ahead of regulated savings accounts such as the Livret A.
The top three saving regions are:
Ile de France: €7,500 per year on average
Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes: €6,800
Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur (PACA): €5,500
The regions that save the least are:
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: €4,300
Centre Val-de Loire: €4,200
Normandy: €4,200
Digital savings tools more effective
The differences are largely due to differing income levels in the area, and varying “financial behaviour”, the study found.
“Urban areas are more likely to adopt digital tools and regular savings practices, while rural areas show more irregular behaviour and lower amounts,” it states.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a study by a fintech company, the study found that people who use automated digital tools to save - e.g. setting up a rule on their bank account that automatically saves a certain amount to a savings account every month - tend to save more than those who do not use such tools, the study says.
“This lever appears to be essential for reducing the territorial divide, and democratising automation in rural areas would not only increase the amounts saved, but also instil lasting financial discipline,” said Andréa Ganovelli, managing director of Green-Got.
The study found that automatic savings are very common in France, with 77% of people automating their savings every month, with 18% of these saving more than €500 per month.
