European savers are losing €294 in purchasing power for every €10,000 kept in bank deposits, according to a report from digital bank Revolut. The firm calculates that around €6.3 trillion is currently parked in low-yield savings accounts across 20 European Union countries, prompting renewed debate over how to make household savings work harder.
Why are Europeans losing money on their savings?
The core issue is that interest rates offered on many standard savings accounts fail to keep pace with inflation, meaning the real value of deposited money erodes over time even as nominal balances stay the same. Revolut’s calculation translates this gap into a concrete figure: for every €10,000 sitting in a typical low-interest account, savers effectively lose €294 in real terms. Multiplied across the EU’s enormous pool of idle deposits, the report frames this as a systemic drain on household wealth rather than a minor inconvenience.
Millions of euros in collective purchasing power are quietly slipping away every year simply because savings remain underused, industry observers note.
What is driving the €6.3 trillion figure?
Revolut’s estimate reflects the sheer scale of cash Europeans keep in conventional bank accounts rather than in higher-yielding alternatives such as investment funds, stocks, or capital markets instruments. Much of this money is held in accounts offering minimal or no meaningful return, a habit rooted in caution, limited financial literacy, or lack of easy access to investment products. The figure spans 20 EU member states, underscoring that the phenomenon is not confined to a single national market but is a broad, continent-wide pattern of underutilized savings.
What does this mean for EU policy and savers?
Brussels has signaled interest in redirecting some of this dormant capital toward European capital markets, an approach that could, in theory, boost investment in businesses and infrastructure while offering savers potentially better returns than standard deposit accounts. Policymakers see the trillions sitting in low-yield accounts as a missed opportunity both for individual savers seeking to protect their purchasing power and for the broader EU economy, which could benefit from deeper, more liquid capital markets fueled by household funds.
