France: Household financial wealth remains concentrated in non-risk assets - ING

France’s household financial assets reached €5,233bn in 3Q17, 8.5% higher than a year before, which represents an average household wealth of €178,200, notes Julien Manceaux, Senior Economist at ING.

Key Quotes

“With €1,576bn of debt, net financial wealth was €3,658bn, or €107,700 per household, which is 15% more than in Germany.”

“French savers have developed a strong preference for long-term safe assets through the years, with life insurance now representing 37% of the total and the various forms of savings accounts representing 18% of financial wealth. Since 2009, French households have saved €722bn representing around €260 per month. They disinvested stocks and mutual funds in favour of savings accounts and life insurance.”

“Riskier financial assets like mutual funds, bonds or stocks represented a mere 12%. This is in line with recent surveys showing that 8 out of 10 people do not trust stocks for their savings. This has not stopped the French from being among the largest holders of stocks in the Eurozone, but that's largely because wealth distribution in France is not as equal as one may think.”

“Looking at the distribution of wealth, it is interesting to note that while France is among the European countries with a relatively low income inequality, the inequalities in wealth distribution are more pronounced.”