Where you live strongly influences your ability to save. Income, habits and tools used on a daily basis explain a large part of the differences.
The French save, and even more than before, but they do not all do it at the same pace or with the same ease. And depending on whether you live in a large urban area or in a more rural area, the amount set aside each year can vary in very marked proportions. The gap is not only due to standard of living, it also relates to different ways of managing money. An analysis carried out by the French fintech Green-Got, relayed by Moneyvox, highlights this often underestimated factor that is the territory.
First observation of the study, large metropolitan areas display significantly higher levels of savings than rural areas, with differences which can rise up to 70% from one region to another. In other words, the rise in prices does not hit everywhere in the same way, and the capacity to absorb the shock through savings strongly depends on the local economic environment. These trends are consistent with national data observed by the Banque de France, which last year noted a level of total savings never before reached in the country, driven largely by life insurance, far ahead of traditional regulated products.
So, how much are we talking about concretely depending on the territory? Nationally, average savings reach 5,650 euros per year, an unprecedented level. In detail, residents of urban areas put aside on average 7,173 euros per year, compared to 4,155 euros for those living in rural areas. Some regions stand out clearly towards the top, such as Île-de-France with around 7,500 euros saved each year, Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes around 6,800 euros, or even Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur close to 5,500 euros. At the other end of the ranking, Burgundy–Franche-Comté is around 4,300 euros, Centre-Val de Loire and Normandy are each around 4,200 euros per year. The opportunity to compare your financial situation with that of your neighbors.
But the study does not stop at the amounts, it is also interested in behavior. Residents of large cities more easily adopt digital tools to manage their budget and schedule regular transfers to savings accounts, while households living outside major urban centers save more irregularly, often when there is something left at the end of the month. This automation plays a key role because it turns an intention into a concrete habit, without having to think about it every month.
