2025年全球财富报告强势推进（英文）-

PoweringAhead

AllianzGlobalWealthReport2025

25September2025

AllianzResearch

AllianzResearch

2

Content

5

ExecutiveSummary

18

Financialassets:Poweringahead

27

Liabilities:Norecovery

31

Realestate:Bottomingout

36

Distribution:Noprogress

38

Appendices

3

25September2025

Executive

Summary

MichaelaGrimm

SeniorEconomist,

Demography&SocialProtection

michaela.grimm@

ArneHolzhausen

HeadofInsurance,Wealth&ESGResearch

arne.holzhausen@

PatriciaPelayo-Romero

SeniorEconomist,Insurance&ESG

patricia.pelayo-romero@

KathrinStoffel

Economist,Insurance&Wealth

kathrin.stoffel

@

Poweringahead

2024sawanotheryearofsolidgrowthfortheglobaleconomy–andanotherbumperyearforfinancialassetsofprivatehouseholds,whichroseby+8.7%,

surpassingthestronggrowthofthepreviousyear(+8.0%).Bytheendof2024,totalfinancialassetshadreachedanewabsoluterecordofEUR269trn,thoughat283%relativetoeconomicactivity,thisisonlyatthesamelevelasin2017asinflationhas“artificially”inflatedthedenominator.

TheUSremainsontop

Asmightbeexpected,thisenormouswealthisnotdistributedevenlyacrosstheworld.Infact,aroundhalfofallprivatefinancialassetsareconcentratedinjustoneregion:NorthAmerica.Remarkably,America‘ssharehashardlychangedinthelast20years,despitetherapidriseofChina,whoseshareisnowaround15%

–afivefoldincreasecomparedto2004.China‘srisehascomeattheexpenseofotherdevelopedregions:WesternEuropeandJapanhavelostsignificantmarketshareoverthelasttwodecades,withEuropedown9.1ppsandJapandown5.9pps;Japan‘ssharehasthusmorethanhalved.

GrowthmadeintheUSA

Overthepast20years,thefinancialassetsofAmericanhouseholdshavegrowninlinewiththeglobalaverage.Butin2024,theirgrowthwassignificantlyhigher.ThisisinstarkcontrasttoWesternEuropeandJapan,wheregrowthlagged

theglobalaveragebyover2ppsandjustunder4ppsperyear,respectively.

CombinedwiththesheersizeofAmericanfinancialassets,thismeansthat

in2024morethanhalf(53.6%)ofthegrowthinglobalfinancialassetswas

generatedinNorthAmerica.Overthelasttwodecades,thisfigurestoodat

48.5%.China,ontheotherhand,accountedfor19.8%,whileWesternEurope

accountedfor14.1%.Whenitcomestofinancialwealth,theUScontinuestocalltheshots.

Smartsavers

Owningsecurities,particularlystocks,iskeyforassetgrowth.Inthisrespect,thelasttwoyearshavebeenextremelygratifyingforsavers.Inboth2023(+11.5%)and2024(+12.0%),securitiesgrewalmosttwiceasfastastheothertwoassetclasses:insurance/pensions(+6.7%and+6.9%,respectively)andbankdeposits(+4.7%and+5.7%,respectively).However,theextenttowhichsaversbenefit

fromrisingsecuritiespricesvarieswidelybetweencountriesandregionsduetodifferencesinportfoliostructures.Notably,itisprimarilyNorthAmericansaverswhoinvestinsecurities,accountingfor59.2%ofportfolios.InWesternEurope,forexample,thisfigurestandsatjust34.9%.

AllianzResearch

4

Hardsavers

Americansaversalsodemonstrateaclearpreferenceforsecuritieswhen

investingnewsavings.In2024,forinstance,theyaccountedfor67%offresh

savings,comparedtojust26%inWesternEurope.Thisconsistentfocuson

investmentvehicleswithhighpotentialforvalueappreciationhaspaidoff.WhilefinancialassetsinNorthAmericagrewbyanaverageof+6.2%peryearoverthelasttenyears,WesternEuropeachievedanaveragegrowthrateofjust3.8%.

However,savingseffortsarehigherinEurope:onaverageoverthelastdecade,saversheremobilizedanadditional2.3%oftheirfinancialassetsinfreshsavings,comparedto2.0%intheUS.AcomparisonwithGermanyisinstructive:Germanyhasalsoachievedrelativelyhighfinancialassetgrowth(+5.9%peryear)overthelasttenyears,butinadifferentway:freshsavingsamountedto3.7%ofexistingfinancialassetsperyear–almosttwicethefigurefortheUS.Atthesametime,

thecontributionofvalueincreaseswasonly32%–lessthanhalfthatoftheUS.

Nomoredebt,please

Althoughcentralbanksstartedtolowertheirkeyinterestratesagainin2024,

thisdidnotresultinanincreaseindemandforloans.Infact,globalprivatedebtgrowthslowedfurther,from+3.8%in2023to+3.1%.Overall,globalhouseholddebttotaledEUR59.6trnattheendof2024.Nearlyallregionsrecordedanemicdebtgrowthin2024,withChinabeingacaseinpoint:Whileprivateliabilities

hadgrownatanaveragerateofalmost+20%peryearovertheprevioustwodecades,growthin2024wasjust+3.4%.

Surgingnetfinancialassets

Relativelystronggrowthinassetsandrelativelyweakgrowthindebtledtoa

significantincreaseinnetfinancialassets(financialassetsminusliabilities)in

2024.At+10.3%,thisexceededthestronggrowthofthepreviousyear(+9.4%)byaconsiderablemargin.Overall,globalnetfinancialassetstotaledEUR210trn

bytheendof2024.Thisrepresentsadoublingofassetsoverthepastdecade.

Growthlastyearwaswellabovethelong-termtrendinalmostallregions.

Emergingdebt

Theglobaldebtratio(liabilitiesasapercentageofGDP)was62.6%,whichis

almost8ppslowerthantwodecadesago.However,thisdoesnotapplytoall

regions.DeleveragingwasprimarilypursuedbyhouseholdsinNorthAmerica

(-15.9pps),Japan(-6.1pps)andWesternEurope(-2.5pps).Bycontrast,most

emergingmarketshaveexperiencedasignificantincreaseintheirdebtratios

overthepasttwodecades.Chinaleadstheway,withitsratiorisingby43.4ppstoreach61.4%.Aclearpatternisemerging:Inemergingeconomies,net

financialassetshavegrownsignificantlymoreslowlythangrossfinancialassets,implyingthatdebtinthesecountrieshasgrownfasterthanassetsonaverage.Inadvancedeconomies,however,theoppositeistrue:debtisgrowingmoreslowlythanfinancialassets.

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5

Anotherweakyearforrealestate

In2024,thevalueofrealestateassetsgrewatmorethantwicethespeedthan

inthepreviousyear:+3.6%,comparedto+1.7%in2023.However,eventhisfigureisratherweakinhistoricalterms;growthwasweakeronlyintheaftermathof

theglobalfinancialcrisisin2012.However,pricetrendsvariedfrommarketto

market.WhilethereweresolidincreasesinNorthAmerica,pricesinWestern

Europehardlymoved;insomemarkets,suchasFranceandGermany,priceshavefallenacrosstheboard.Overall,thevalueofrealestateassetsinthecountries

weanalyzeamountedtoEUR158trn.

Poorcountriesarenolongercatchingup

Foralongtime,internationalwealthdevelopmentwascharacterizedby

convergence,withthegapbetweenpoorerandrichercountriesnarrowing.Thisisnolongerthecase,asseenintheratioofnetfinancialassetsbetweenadvancedandemergingmarkets.Between2004and2014,thisfigurefellsharplyfrom67to24.Thismeansthat,onaverage,thenetfinancialassetsofrichercountries

were“only”24timeshigherthanthoseofpoorercountriesin2014.However,inthefollowingdecade,thedeclinewasonly6points,reachingacurrentvalueof18.Mostofthisdeclineoccurredinthefirsttwoyears,withtheratiofallingto20by2016.Since2017convergencebetweenricherandpoorercountrieshasmoreorlesscometoastandstill.

Noprogressin20years

Overall,thedistributionofwealthappearslessunequalinthenational

contextcomparedtotheglobalcontext.Theshareoftherichest10%is60.4%

(unweightedaverage),ratherthan85.1%(globallevel).Thegapbetween

medianandaveragewealthisalsosignificantlysmaller,withpercapitawealthbeingnot15timesbutonlyaroundthreetimeshigherthanmedianwealth(ratio3.08).However,thenationalsituationisevenmoreworryinginonerespect.

Despiteinequalitybeingamajorpoliticalissueforyears,therehasbeenno

progresstowardsgreaterequality.In2004,therichest10%inthecountriesweanalyzehada59.9%shareofwealth,andtheaveragewealthwasthreetimesthemedianwealth(ratio3.05).Thesefiguresarealmostexactlythesameaslastyear‘s.

China‘s„wild“yearsareover

Lookingatindividualcountries,however,changescanalreadybeseen,albeit

inonlyafew.Infact,37countries(outof57)havearelativelystabledistributionofwealth;theconcentrationofwealthhaschangedbylessthan2pps.Only

insevencountrieshasthedistributionimproved,i.e.wealthconcentration,

measuredastheshareofthetop10%,hasdeclined.Ontheotherhand,in13

countrieswealthconcentrationhasincreasedsignificantly.Chinastandsoutin

particularasnowhereelsehasthewealthshareoftherichest10%risenmore

sharply(+17.3pps).Thisisduetotheenormouseconomicandsocialchangesofthelast20years,whichhavenotonlycontributedtoahugeincreaseingeneralwealth,butalsototheemergenceofagenuineupperclass.At67.9%,theshareoftherichest10%intotalwealthisnowwellabovetheglobalaverage.However,itseemsthatChina‘s„wild“yearsareoverastheconcentrationofwealthhas

remainedunchangedoverthelastfiveyears.

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6

Financialassets:Poweringahead

2024sawanotheryearofsolidgrowthfortheglobal

economy(+2.8%),despitegeopoliticalchallenges.TheUSeconomyonceagaindemonstrateditsresilience,

primarilyduetorobustprivateconsumption.Incontrast,EuropeandChinafacedstructuralchallengesthat

hinderedeconomicgrowth.Theprevioustoughinterest-rateturnaroundalsosawsuccessin2024:inflation

declinedinmostregionsandapproachedthetargetof2.0%bytheendoftheyear.Thisenabledcentralbankstoeaseinterestratesagain.TheEuropeanCentralBank(ECB)andtheUSFederalReserve(Fed)bothloweredtheirrespectivekeyinterestratesby100bps.However,long-terminterestratesdidnotfollowsuitasconcernsaboutever-increasinggovernmentdebtgrew.YieldsongovernmentbondsroseinbothEuropeandtheUS.

Asin2023,stockmarketsrecordedstronggains.Interest-ratecutsbycentralbanksandtheongoingexcitementsurroundingartificialintelligence(AI)boostedprices.Attheendoftheyear,DonaldTrump‘sre-electionasUS

presidentprovidedanadditionalboosttothemarkets.Overall,USstocks(S&P500),forexample,roseby

+23.3%,andevenGermanstocks(DAX)achieveda+18.8%gaindespitetheeconomyshrinkingagain.

Againstthisbackdrop,theglobalfinancialassetsof

privatehouseholdsalsorecordedsignificantgrowth,

withanincreaseof+8.7%,exceedingthestronggrowthofthepreviousyear(8.0%).Bytheendof2024,total

financialassetshadreachedEUR269trn(Figure1).

Whilethisisanewabsoluterecord,at283%relativetoeconomicactivity,financialassetsareonlyatthesamelevelasin2017.Thisisbecausethesurgeininflationinrecentyearshas“artificially”inflatedthedenominator.

25September2025

7

Figure1:Poweringahead

Grossfinancialassets,in2024EURtrnandannualchangein%

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

in2024trnEURy/y,in%(rhs)

15

10

5

0

-5

-10

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

TheUSremainsontop

Asmightbeexpected,thisenormouswealthisnot

distributedevenlyacrosstheworld.Infact,aroundhalfofallprivatefinancialassetsareconcentratedinjustoneregion:NorthAmerica(Figure2)¹.Remarkably,America‘ssharehashardlychangedinthelast20years,despite

therapidriseofChina,whoseshareisnowaround15%

–afivefoldincreasecomparedto2004.Infact,China‘srisehascomeattheexpenseofotherdevelopedregions:

WesternEuropeandJapanhavelostsignificantmarket

shareoverthelasttwodecades,withEuropedown9.1ppsandJapandown5.9pps;Japan‘ssharehasthusmorethanhalved.

Figure2:RichAmericans

Grossfinancialassets,regionalsplit2004and2024,in2024EUR,in%

6.5

2024

3.811.1

NorthAmerica

14.6

WesternEuropeJapan

China

51.749.5

2004

AsiaexJPN&CHN

5.3

LatinAmerica

27.3

AUS/NZ

EasternEurope

18.2

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

¹TheNorthAmericanregionislargelyidenticaltotheUS.Canada‘sshareintheregionislessthan6%(2024).WithoutCanada,theUSaloneac-countsfor46.7%oftheglobalmarketshare.In2004,itwas49.3%.

AllianzResearch

8

ThisbroadstabilityintheAmericansharemeansthat

thefinancialassetsofAmericanhouseholdshavegrowninlinewiththeglobalaverageoverthepast20years.

In2024,however,theirgrowthwassignificantlyhigher.ThisisinstarkcontrasttoWesternEuropeandJapan,

wheregrowthlaggedtheglobalaveragebyover2ppsperyearinEuropeandjustunder4ppsperyearinJapan(Figure3).Whenadjustedforinflationandpopulationgrowth,asimilarpictureemerges(seebox:“Theimpactofinflation”).CombinedwiththesheersizeofAmericanfinancialassets,thismeansthat,forexamplein2024,

morethanhalf(53.6%)ofthegrowthinglobalfinancialassetswasgeneratedinNorthAmerica.Overthelasttwodecades,thisfigurestoodat48.5%.China,ontheotherhand,accountedforonly19.8%,whileWestern

Europeaccountedfor14.1%.Whenitcomestofinancialwealth,theUScontinuestocalltheshots.

ThefactthatfinancialassetsintheUSaregrowing

fasterthantheglobalaverageisarelativelyrecent

phenomenon(exceptfor2022,aparticularlychallengingyear).Inpreviousyears,especiallyaftertheglobal

financialcrisis,theUSalsolaggedsignificantlybehind.Theturningpointcanbedatedfairlypreciselyto2017,thefirstyearofPresidentTrump‘sterm,whentrade

conflictsbetweentheUSandChinabecameopenly

apparent,effectivelymarkingtheendofuninterruptedglobalizationandtheever-increasingintegrationof

emergingeconomiesintotheglobaldivisionoflabor.

Sincethen,theirgrowthadvantageoveradvanced

economieshasshrunksignificantly.By2024,itis

expectedtoriseagainto4pps;however,thiscompareswithanaveragegrowthgapofjustunder14ppsin

thedecadepriorto2017(Figure4).Examiningthe

developmentoffinancialassetsrevealsthat,inan

increasinglyfragmentedglobaleconomy,theprocessofconvergencebetweenricherandpoorercountriesisstalling.

Figure3:DynamicAmericans

Grossfinancialassets,CAGR*2005-2024andgrowth2024/2023,in%

JapanWesternEurope LatinAmerica AUS/NZLWORLD

4.0

3.9

2.2

4.6

11.3

8.4

7.57.2

8.7

6.15.8

NorthAmerica

9.4

9.0

9.8

AsiaexJPN&CHN

15.0

15.0

12.211.1

ChinaEasternEurope

CAGR2005-20242024

*Compoundannualgrowthrate,in2024EUR.

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

25September2025

9

Figure4:Thenewrealityofde-globalization

Grossfinancialassetsin2024EUR,annualchangein%

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

-5

-10

-15

AdvancedEconomiesEmergingMarkets

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

Americansupremacyisalsoreflectedinpercapita

financialassets,atleastwhenlookingataverages:infact,onlytheSwissarericherthanAmericans.Allothercountriesfollowataconsiderabledistance(Figure5).Whilethetoptwospotshaveremainedunchangedforyears,therehasbeensomemovementamongthetopten.Twodecadesago,Taiwan,SwedenandAustraliawerenotyetpartofthisillustriouscircle,whichincludedBelgium,theUK,andJapaninstead.TheNetherlands

istherichestEurozonecountrybutonlyateighthplaceintheranking,downfromthirdplacein2004.Aword

aboutGermany,whichhasmovedupfrom17thto15thplacethisyear,thankstoanextensivedatarevisionthatledtoasignificantlyhighervaluationofunlistedequityinterests.ThismakesitoneofthefewEurozonecountries–alongsidetheBalticstatesandMalta–thathavebeenabletoimprovetheirrankinginrecentyears.AndChina?Itnowranks31st,upnineplacesfrom2004.

Figure5:Thetop25

Grossfinancialassetspercapita,in2024EUR

Switzerland

UnitedStates Denmark Singapore Taiwan Canada SwedenNetherlands AustraliaNewZealand BelgiumNorway

UnitedKingdom JapanGermanyIreland

France ItalyAustriaMalta

FinlandSouthKorea

Spain PortugalCzechRepublic

397,570

370,160

252,110

245,920

197,900

193,280

191,160

189,540

184,530

165,510

141,510

119,200

118,370

112,720

112,550

112,240

106,640

100,960

99,920

88,580

78,960

69,240

65,140

55,290

44,910

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch..

10

Theimpactofinflation

DoestheextraordinarygrowthinAmericanfinancialassetsholdupundercloserscrutinywhenadjustedforpopulationgrowthandinflation?Figure6providestheanswer.Onapercapitabasis,theannualgrowthrateis0.8ppslower

globally.ThisdeclineaffectsallregionsexceptJapan,wherepercapitagrowthisslightlyhigherduetothefalling

population.Adjustingforinflationhasadisproportionatelygreaterimpact.Globally,growththenfallsbymorethanhalf,toaroundone-thirdinEasternEuropeandLatinAmerica.Onlytwomarketsstandoutinthisregard:JapanandChina.

Althoughrealgrowthislowerheretoo,thediscrepancyisnotverylarge.Infact,realpercapitawealthinJapanhas

grownslightlyfasterthaninWesternEuropeoverthelast20years.China‘sleadovertherestoftheworldissubstantialinrealterms,withagrowthadvantageofalmost10ppsperyear.Infact,thepurchasingpowerofaveragepercapitafinancialassetshasincreasedalmosttenfoldinChinainjust20years.Thecountriesclosesttoachievingthislevelof

prosperityareBulgaria,whererealpercapitafinancialassetshaveincreasedbyafactorofeight,aswellasRomaniaandIndia,wheretherehasbeenafivefoldincrease.AndwhatabouttheUS?Here,thepurchasingpoweroffinancialassetshas‚only‘increasedbyafactorof1.6overthelasttwodecades.However,thisfigureissignificantlyhigherthanthoseforWesternEurope(1.3)andJapan(1.4)andisroughlyinlinewithglobaltrends.Therefore,evenafteradjustingforpopulationgrowthandinflation,Americanfinancialassetsarekeepingpacewithglobaldevelopments.

Figure6:Inflationhalveswealth

Grossfinancialassetspercapita,nominalandrealCAGR*2005-2024,in%

JapanWesternEuropeNorthAmericaWorld

AUS/NZL

AsiaexJPN&CHN

LatinAmericaEasternEuropeChina

14.5

2.2

5.0

5.3

5.9

3.6

7.8

3.8

10.4

3.9

10.9

12.0

3.62.4

2.5

3.1

1.6

1.4

realnominal

*Compoundannualgrowthrate,in2024EUR.

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

However,inflationonlybecametrulypainfulintheaftermathofthepandemic,reachingdouble-digitratesinsomepartsofEurope.Thecontinenthasnotyetrecoveredfromthis;in2024,realfinancialassetsinWesternEuropeareexpectedtobe2.4%belowtheir2019level.Theglobaltrendisslightlymorefavorable,withrealgrowthof16%recordedoverthelastfiveyears.However,realfinancialassetsremainbelowtheir2021level(Figure7).

Therearesignificantregionaldifferences.Asia(excludingJapanandChina)experiencedstrongrealgrowthoverthe

pastfiveyearsduetorelativelylowinflationrates.Realfinancialassetsattheendof2024willbe29%higherthanin

2019.China‘sgrowthisevenmoreimpressive,at56%.GrowthinJapan(9%)andNorthAmerica(14%)wasmoremodest.UnlikeWesternEurope,however,theseregionsalsoachievedrealgainsinprosperity.Infact,WesternEuropeistheonlyregionthatcanlookbackonfivelostyears.

11

Figure7:LongCovid

Grossfinancialassets,nominalvs.realdevelopment(indexed,2019=100)andaveragecpi(2020-2024,in%)

190

170

150

130

110

90

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

AsiaexJPN&

CHN

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Japan

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

China

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Latin

America

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Eastern

Europe

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Western

Europe

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

North

America

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

AUS/NZL

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Global

Nominal(lhs)Real(lhs)Averagecpi,(rhs)

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

AllianzResearch

12

Smartsavers

Whatexplainsthesignificantvariationinthe

performanceoffinancialassets?Thebestwaytoanswerthisquestionistobreakdowntheincreaseinassetsintoitstwocomponents:savingsandpriceincreases.

First,let‘sconsiderthelatter.Itisprimarilysecurities,

especiallystocks,thatleadtoincreasesinportfolio

value.Inthisrespect,thelasttwoyearshavebeen

extremelygratifyingforsavers,withthecontinuedstockmarketboombringingstronggains.Thisisreflected

inthesignificantlydifferentgrowthratesofthethree

mainassetclasses:bankdeposits,securities(includinginvestmentfunds)andinsurance/pensions(Figure8).In

both2023(+11.5%)and2024(+12.0%),securitiesgrewalmosttwiceasfastastheothertwoassetclasses:

insurance/pensions(+6.7%and+6.9%,respectively)andbankdeposits(+4.7%and+5.7%,respectively).

Thisgrowthadvantagealsopersistsinthelongterm,

thoughitislesspronouncedasstockmarketsdonotonlyexperiencegoodyears.Nevertheless,overthelast20

years,securitieshaveachievedanaveragegrowthrateof+6.9%,whichissignificantlyhigherthanthegrowthrateoftotalfinancialassets(+6.1%).

Figure8:Securitiessetthepace

Grossfinancialassetsin2024EUR,annualchangein%

20

15

10

5

0

-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

DepositsSecuritiesInsurance&pensions

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

25September2025

13

However,tobenefitfrompositivedevelopmentsinthe

stockmarket,saversmustfirstincludethesesecurities

intheirportfolios.Securitiesare,infact,byfarthe

mostimportantassetclass.Attheendof2024,they

accountedfor45.1%ofglobalfinancialassets.Thisisanewrecord.Despitesomesetbacksonthestockmarkets,theimportanceofstocks,investmentfundsandother

securitieshasrisensteadilyoverthelasttwodecades:

overall,theirshareofportfoliosincreasedbyalmost7ppscomparedto2004.Conversely,theshareofinsurance/

pensionsdeclinedbyalmost7ppsto25.8%overthe

sameperiod–alsoanew“record”.Finally,bankdepositsincreasedtheirshareslightlyto26.7%(Figure9).

Theseglobalfiguresmasklargedifferencesbetween

countriesandregions,andthustheextenttowhichsaversbenefitfromrisingsecuritiesprices.Notably,itisprimarilyNorthAmericansaverswhoareinvestinginsecurities,

withaportfolioshareof59.2%.Thiswasnotalwaysthecase;aftertheglobalfinancialcrisis,thisfigurefellbelow46%.SecuritiesalsoplayadisproportionatelylargeroleinSouthAmerica,althoughthesearemorelikelytobe

othertypesofequitythanlistedshares.InAsia,onthe

otherhand,securitiesgenerallyplayonlyaminorrole,likelydueinlargeparttotheunderdevelopedstate

offinancialmarketsintheregion.Thisexplainsthe

importanceofbankdepositsintheregion(asinEasternEurope).However,thisargumentcertainlydoesnot

applytoAustralia,wheremanysaversareindirectly

involvedincapitalmarketsthroughpensionproducts

(so-calledsuperannuations).WesternEurope,onthe

otherhand,ischaracterizedbyabalancedportfolio

structure,withsecuritiessignificantlylessimportantthaninNorthAmerica.Thesedifferentportfoliostructures

demonstratethewidevariationinsavingsbehavior

aroundtheworld.Theyalsoexplainwhy,incontrast

totheirJapaneseandEuropeancounterparts,North

Americansavershavesucceededinincreasingtheir

financialassetsinlinewithglobaldevelopmentsin

recentyears.Thisiseventhoughthealreadyveryhighlevelwouldactuallysuggestweakergrowth,ascanalsobeobservedinotherdevelopedregions.

Figure9:Hugedifferencesinportfoliostructures

Grossfinancialassets,byassetclassin2024EUR,in%oftotalgrossfinancialassets

28.6

12.5

22.8

9.7

31.8

32.3

26.6

25.8

23.2

33.0

22.1

48.3

35.5

34.9

45.3

59.2

45.1

45.7

54.5

51.9

27.4

22.1

47.6

30.4

21.0

11.7

26.7

AsiaexJPN&

CHN

China

Japan

AUS/NZL

Eastern

Europe

Western

Europe

Latin

America

North

America

World

DepositsSecuritiesInsurance&pensionsOthers

Sources:Eurostat,nationalcentralbanks,financialsupervisoryauthorities,financialassociationsandstatisticaloffices,IMF,LSEG,AllianzResearch.

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Hardsavers²

In2024,savingsincreasedsharplybyalmost35%,

reachingatotalofEUR4.2trn(Figure10).Whilethis

remainedwellbelowthepeaksoftheexceptionalyearsof2020and2021,itclearlyhaltedthedownwardtrendoftheprevioustwoyears.Theincreasewasobserved

inalltheregionsconsideredhere,withNorthAmericaexperiencingthestrongestgrowth,atover39%.Thisregionaccountedforoverhalfofthenewsavings,

totalingEUR2.3trn.

Anotherstrikingfeaturewasthestrongrecoveryin

bankdeposits.Afterreceivingnonetnewfundsin2023,primarilyduetothebehaviorofAmericansaverswho

withdrewEUR500bnfrombankdepositsandinvested

itinhigher-yieldingassets,primarilybonds,28%ofnewsavingsflowedbacktobanksin2024.Thisissignificantlyhigherthanintheprevioustwoyears,butstill

significantlylowerthaninthepre-pandemicyears,whenthisfigureaveragedover40%.The“rediscovery”ofbankdepositsisthereforelikelyduemoretofallinginterest

ratesmakingtheopportunitycostofleavingmoneyinacurrentaccountlower,ratherthantotheirattractiveness.ThisisalsoevidentinJapan,wherethedelayedinterestrateturnaroundcaus