Household savings hit major highs across country

Per capita household savings exceeded 200,000 yuan ($29,342.60) in Beijing and Shanghai for 2022, becoming the only two regions in China exceeding that amount, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Tuesday.

In 2022 per capita household savings in Beijing and Shanghai reached 26.78 trillion yuan and 21.16 trillion yuan, respectively, followed by Zhejiang province with 12.74 trillion yuan.

Household savings are the main domestic source of funds to finance capital investments, a major impetus for long-term economic growth according to the OECD.

As of the end of December 2022, the balance of local and foreign currency deposits was 264.45 trillion yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 10.8 percent, according to data from the People's Bank of China.

For the whole of 2022, RMB deposits increased 26.26 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.59 trillion yuan, of which household deposits increased 17.84 trillion from 9.9 trillion in 2021.

Current research suggests the excess savings of the household sector in 2022 mainly came from less consumer spending and reduced investment spending in areas such as housing and wealth management due to weaker income expectations.

As of the end of 2022, the balance of local and foreign currency deposits reached 32.24 trillion yuan in South China's Guangdong province, the only province with a deposit balance exceeding 30 trillion yuan.

Jiangsu province grabbed second place with deposits of 21.87 trillion yuan in 2022, followed by Beijing, Zhejiang province and Shanghai.

Apart from GDP, the balance of deposits in local and foreign currencies of financial institutions is often used as an important reference point for regional development.

Generally speaking, if a region has a higher total amount of funds, it has a stronger capacity to attract capital.