French households still accumulate very large sums in their payment bank accounts. More than 15,000 euros on average, per household, knowing that a household can obviously juxtapose several current accounts. But this average drops very sharply in 2023.
From 18,000 euros, on average, 15,877 eurosin a little over a year, between historic peak of July 2022 and the average calculated by MoneyVox based on statistics from the Banque de France and INSEE for the month of October 2023.
These averages make the statistics on overall outstanding debts more concrete. deposits seen by resident individuals (in short, the current accounts of French households). The archives of the Banque de France go back to the beginning of the 1990s: when converting into euros, current accounts accumulated 70 billion euros at the time.
The cursor exceeded 100 billion euros at the turn of the millennium and in conjunction with the transition to the euro. The 200 billion euros mark was crossed in mid-2009. The 300 billion euros in July 2016…Reduced to an average per household, the more than 28 million French households then held 10583 euros on their current accounts.
The flight of money lying dormant in current accounts at the end of the 2010s
Then began the flight of money lying dormant in current accounts: more than 400 billion euros on deposits seen in July 2019, more than 500 from July 2021 and the historic peak of nearly 544 billion euros in July 2022.
The surge in money sitting in current accounts coincides with the mid-2010s: very low rates, risk-free savings products that yield very little, the stock market which yo-yos from one year to the next , etc. So many incentives to let the savings accumulated in the current account lie dormant, without taking the trouble to save on a dedicated product.
Following the health crisiswith the leap of inflation and the return of higher rates on the financial markets, current accounts are deflating: overall outstandings returned to the 500 billion euros mark in the summer of 2023 to fall below 480 billion euros in October 2023, according to data revealed at the beginning of December by the Banque de France.
The big return of savings accounts, from which you can draw at any time
Due to galloping inflation and in reaction to the increase in the rates of Livret A, LDDS and LEP, now respectively 3% and 6%, individuals have gradually withdrawn their notes from their current accounts to place them in these savings books precautionary measures that have become remunerative again. Especially since the money is available at any time, in case of hard times.
Over the ten months of 2023, Livret A drained as much money (27 billion euros in net collection) as over the entire year of 2022, which was already exceptional. And the popular savings account, accessible to those who pay little or no tax, has already collected no less than 15.9 billion euros over the year 2023.
Source of data: monthly press releases from Caisse des Dépôts on the flows and outstanding amounts of Livret A and LDD.
MoneyVox
If I withdraw my savings before December 31, will I receive interest?
More than 15,000 euros in a current account, how is this possible?
This average, close to 16,000 euros, for the current accounts of French households, is obviously inflated by certain very well-stocked bank accounts… and it is an average per household, therefore by adding the balance of the different accounts within ‘a couple, even counting those of the children.