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6 356.4 billion euros is the amount achieved by the financial assets of French households, an absolute record revealed by Banque de France. This figure goes far beyond the national public debt and overlaps the CAC 40 capitalization. It hides the selection of society behind this impressive accumulation: massive savings, oriented to security rather than yield. French paradox, at a time when the economy requires innovation and markets for controlled risk.
In short
- According to Banque de France, the French financial assets reached a historical level of 6,356.4 billion euros.
- This colossal amount is almost twice the public debt and twice and a half times from the CAC 40 capitalization.
- Two deputies openly criticize life insurance and condemn their opaque costs and performance as average.
- Partial reorientation of inheritance towards innovative solutions could become essential in the coming years.
A record heritage that carried by caution
While France is now described as on the brink of financial bankruptcy according to several analyzes, degradation of the country’s public finances contrasts with the apparent fortress of private heritage.
According to the latest data published by Banque de France, the financial heritage of French households was 6,356.4 billion euros on 31 December 2024. This number means an increase of 1.7 % over the year, although an absolute record of the third quarter of 2024.
This increase was mainly transmitted by products without risks, recognized in the context of economic volatility. Banque de France also emphasizes this “The colossal size of this sum is transmitted by a high degree of savings of French (18 %)”, ”, This confirms the permanent tendency to prefer the safety of the return.
Here is a detailed division of this heritage:
- EUR 2,089 billion is invested in life insurance and pension savings plans (PER), including EUR (guaranteed capital) and account units (exposed to markets);
- EUR 1 405 billion is assigned to non -possible events and other participation, generally associated with business or hereditary activity;
- 955.7 billion euros are stored on regulated savings products such as brochures and or LDDS;
- Almost 550 billion euros are sleeping on unpaid current accounts.
This structure of the paper illustrates the strategy of capital protection, where it seems that immediate liquidity and absence of risk take precedence in finding a return. Culturally anchored behavior, but that faces the development of markets, begins to evoke criticism.
Investments considered ineffective and opaque by some deputies
If the French place confidence in classic products, it is not without criticism. In the recently published report, two MEPs Jean-Philippe Tanguy (RN) and François Jolivet (Horizons) are particularly serious of life insurance that qualify for small transparent and unoccupied.
They point to management fees “Important and not too readable” as well as historically low yields. They say that between 1999 and 2021, account units showed an average power of -8 %. These statistics cheat on the debate on the modernization of popular savings and the need for reform.
The contrast is between this observation and developing alternatives offered by digital finances. While billions remain frozen in unpaid or invested current accounts into subformation products, mechanisms such as stuking, Crypto ETF or rewarded stables, are experiencing a significant boom in other European countries.
In France, however, they try to take off these possibilities. If this can be partially explained by a lack of financial education or a vague regulation, the French heritage remains true structural inertia. The weight of history, taxation and traditional banking slows down the survey of alternative solutions.
This situation raises the basic question: How to reorient a part of these EUR 6,000 billion to vectors innovation and return without betraying the legitimate caution of the savior?
In the context of the technological and monetary revolution, where classic financial models are questioned, France seems to be hesitant to dive. However, as criticism is intensified, especially around the growing fragility of traditional properties, as evidenced by collapse on the one hand a significant part of the heritage of the household, and that decentralized products gain maturity, the change in the allocation of the heritage becomes inevitable.
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A graduate of the Toulouse and the Blockchain Consultant Certification certification holder and I joined the adventure of Cointribuna in 2019. I convinced of the potential of blockchain to transform many economy sectors, committing to raising awareness and informing the general public about how the ecosysty developed. My goal is to allow everyone to better understand blockchain and take the opportunity they offer. I try to provide an objective analysis of messages every day, decrypt trends on the market, hand over the latest technological innovations and introduce the economic and social issues of this revolution.
Renunciation
The words and opinions expressed in this article are involved only by their author and should not be considered investment counseling. Do your own research before any investment decision.