Savings, Intesa Sanpaolo: “The share of saving households is growing but inflation has a cost”

The Italians confirm themselves as ants even in the particularly complex phase we are going through and contrary to expectations they manage to save more. Despite the many price increases and skyrocketing inflation, every month just over one in two families manages to put aside a portion of their income, mainly driven by the desire for financial security and independence. This is what emerged from the 2022 Survey on Savings and the Financial Choices of Italians conducted by Intesa Sanpaolo and Centro Einaudi and presented this morning in Milan.

From the data, collected between March and April of this year, a virtuous picture emerges but there are also shadows, especially as regards young people. Meanwhile, it must be said that the percentage of savers has returned towards pre-pandemic levels, settling at 53.5% (55.1% in 2019), a sharp increase compared to the 2021 figure, which saw savers reduced to 48.6 % of the total. However, there are wide differences between the various groups in the sample analysed: 68% of university graduates manage to set aside resources, against less than 50% of those with a lower average education. 69% of those with a monthly net income of more than 2,500 euros save, but only 36% of those who do not reach 1,600 euros. Similar differences emerge between those who own a home (60% save) or rent (34%) and between multi-income (69%) and single-income families (47%).

Another positive figure is the increase in the intensity of savings, ie the percentage of income that the interviewees manage to set aside. On average, the figure stood at 11.5% in 2022, up from 10.9% in 2021 and not far from pre-pandemic levels (12.6%). Only a minority share of the interviewees (17% of the sample) declares that they set aside resources with a specific purpose in mind (they are the so-called “intentional” savers); around 30% do so for purely precautionary reasons.

Meanwhile, the “rain of liquidity” on the economic system continued in 2021: compared to before the pandemic, consumer household deposits grew by 13%, equal to 135 billion. The Survey points to the persistence of the tendency to hold excess cash balances for precautionary reasons. In this particular phase, however, it is necessary to deal with inflation which erodes part of the accumulated money.

Paying the “inflation tax” to protect the value of money from the risk of investing it with negative returns has become extremely expensive today. «Inflation is an ugly beast because all operators expect it to continue and therefore anticipate purchases so as not to suffer too much from price increases, but in doing so they cause an acceleration in price increases. To avoid this, the central banks are very rigid, but we must be careful to look for a soft landing”, said Gian Maria Gros Pietro, president of Intesa Sanpaolo, on the sidelines of the presentation, who then added: “The attitude of the ECB is decisive and it seems to me to understand that there is variation in the accents that are used. Therefore I believe that we can expect a softening».

Financial education returns to the fore. “Italian families are back to saving and, a positive figure, as is the fact that there is a greater propensity to invest in managed savings – said Gregorio De Felice, Chief economist of Intesa Sanpaolo -. The big issue is that of high liquidity held by Italian families still in current accounts. Perhaps not all families have understood that with an inflation rate of 10% having money that is stationary and not investing it has an inevitable cost. I believe that our country still has a financial education problem despite the efforts that the banking system is making”.

Meanwhile, appreciation for managed savings has grown: at least one product is present in 21% of the sample’s portfolios, albeit with a marked differentiation at a territorial level. On the other hand, the portion invested in bonds decreased (from 29% to 23% of portfolios), while the percentage of investors in shares remained small (although slightly increasing) (4.8%). There is also a growing interest in alternative investments (39% of the sample), in particular gold (24.8%) and ethical-ESG funds (approximately 13%, which rises to over 22% among graduates).

«Italian savers prefer jobs in which, apparently, the risk does not exist. The risk exists on its own, it cannot be avoided. It must be tackled and managed» said Gian Maria Gros Pietro, Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo on the sidelines of the presentation who then added: «If we want to improve we must focus on young people who, unfortunately, show little interest in finance. As a percentage, only 2% show a high degree of interest, while 38% say they are not interested at all. This indicates that we don’t know how to present it well and that we need to improve it in terms of financial education».