The Bank of France published an analysis showing that household saving rate comparisons across advanced economies are highly sensitive to accounting methods. Applying the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Eurostat harmonised gross measure can substantially raise reported rates, but does not eliminate cross-country differences or materially alter the broad ranking of countries. In 2025, the US saving rate rose from 4.6% under its national measure to 10.7% under the harmonised method, while Germany’s increased from 10.3% to 19.2%. The harmonised Germany-US gap was therefore 8.5 percentage points, compared with 5.7 points under national calculations. Further adjustments for durable goods, funded pensions, publicly provided education and health care, and consumption taxes can materially change measured rates and sometimes narrow differences, yet Germany and France generally remain higher-saving countries while Spain and Italy remain lower-saving countries.
2026-09-14Bank of France
Bank of France finds accounting harmonisation changes saving rate gaps but broadly preserves country rankings
The Bank of France found that accounting harmonisation can substantially change measured household saving rates without eliminating cross-country differences. In 2025, harmonised rates were 10.7% in the United States and 19.2% in Germany, compared with national measures of 4.6% and 10.3%, respectively. Broader institutional adjustments affect the size of the gaps but generally preserve country rankings.