BPCE L'Observatoire
BPCE L'Observatoire

Environment for savings and financial investments

[December 2023] BPCE economists review trends in savings and financial investments at the end of the third quarter of 2023.

A slowdown in the trade-off between passbook savings accounts and sight deposits 

At September 2023, aggregate deposit inflows (excluding securities and cash) stood at €33bn, once again confirming the pre-eminence of term accounts, which set new 9-month records at the expense of sight deposits (-€28.6bn) and home savings schemes (-€23.6bn).  Over the same period, savers found regulated passbook savings accounts their most attractive option, particularly the Livret A (+€35bn in aggregate surpluses) and the Sustainable Development and Social Solidarity passbook account (Livret de développement durable et solidaire, +€10.7bn).

Aggregate life insurance inflows slashed by a factor of nine in relation to the third quarter of 2022 

Aggregate net life insurance inflows came to €1.3bn over nine months, well below the levels recorded over the same period in 2022. These positive, yet lower level, surpluses can partly be explained by four months of fund outflows during the period, and by substantial withdrawals from euro-denominated products. 

The success of the Retirement Savings Plan

The latest available figures (covering the first quarter of 2023) confirm the success of the Retirement Savings Plan. Attractive taxation and uncertainties about future pension living standards are driving French interest in this savings scheme, whose status has changed since the 2019 reform thanks to its greater clarity, simplicity, and accessibility for savers.