17.10.2018

Savings study: Austrians invest in consumer goods instead of retirement

  • Austrians are currently saving € 245 per month
  • Financial knowledge: 91% of Austrian do not know what a bond is
  • New investment fund savings plans and free custody accounts for 3 years


Financial retirement provisioning losing importance

Saving money is very important to 75% of Austria’s population. The main reasons haven’t changed: putting money aside for bad times and achieving financial security (82%). Compared to 2009, more people are saving money for holiday trips (34%, +12%), but also for major purchases: almost every second person (48%) is saving for an own residence or a new car – 6% more than in 2009.

“Investing in your own home is good and important.” What is alarming though is the fact that making provisions for retirement has shifted away from the focus of Austrians,” said Thomas Schaufler, Retail CEO at Erste Bank. Making provisions for old age is a defined savings goal only for 41% (2009: 56%) according to a representative study conducted by IMAS on behalf of Erste Bank and Sparkassen.
There is still a lot of money flowing into leisure time activities and consumer goods. According to a current forecast, the savings ratio in 2018 will be 7% [1], thus indicating a slight recovery. “People seem to be adjusting their savings goals again slightly because the economy is booming,” said Schaufler.

Saving money is very important to 75% of Austria’s population. The main reasons haven’t changed: putting money aside for bad times and achieving financial security (82%). Compared to 2009, more people are saving money for holiday trips (34%, +12%), but also for major purchases: almost every second person (48%) is saving for an own residence or a new car – 6% more than in 2009.

“Investing in your own home is good and important.” What is alarming though is the fact that making provisions for retirement has shifted away from the focus of Austrians,” said Thomas Schaufler, Retail CEO at Erste Bank. Making provisions for old age is a defined savings goal only for 41% (2009: 56%) according to a representative study conducted by IMAS on behalf of Erste Bank and Sparkassen.
There is still a lot of money flowing into leisure time activities and consumer goods. According to a current forecast, the savings ratio in 2018 will be 7% [1], thus indicating a slight recovery. “People seem to be adjusting their savings goals again slightly because the economy is booming,” said Schaufler.

“The forecasts confirm sustained and solid global economic growth – also in Austria, although the pace will slow slightly in 2019,” said Gudrun Egger, Head of Major Markets and Credit Research. Capacity utilization is high, the unemployment rate is decreasing in the euro zone, and wages have increased again by more than 2% since 2012. Therefore, the European Central Bank is confident that the general pressure on prices will increase and inflation will start to move towards the ECB target. This is a requisite for interest rates to go up in the euro area. “But even if interest rates start to rise in the autumn of 2019, any further interest rate moves will be only gradual and moderate,” said Egger. This will depend on sustained economic growth, wage rises and the increasing core inflation rate. Things will get better gradually, but one must be patient, because a normalization of monetary policy will take some time.  “A level of two to three percent for short-term deposits will be hardly available to retail customers in the coming three years. Therefore, short-term interest rates will remain below the Austrian inflation rate for longer,” explained Gudrun Egger.


About the study: Erste Bank and Sparkassen commissioned the market research institute IMAS with a survey of Austrians (15 years and older) on the topic of savings. The study is representative for the Austrian population 15 years of age and older. In total, n=900 interviews were conducted throughout Austria. For each province of Austria, n=100 interviews were conducted in order to make a separate evaluation possible. The comparison figures are from the previous study of the year 2009.

[1] Wifo Forecast

[2] Retail deposits, accord. to OeNB, Oct. 2018