More than half of Romanians save less than EUR 100 per month, study shows

More than half (53%) of Romanians say that they manage to save less than RON 500 (EUR 100) a month, according to a recent Revolut-Dynata study on the saving and investing habits of people in Romania.

Autumn is a good time to start saving for almost half of Romanians, while a minority (6%) prefer to wait until January. 23% of those interviewed say, however, that they already have structured plans for saving, investing, or managing their money regardless of the season.

Nevertheless, almost 1 in 5 Romanians (20%) say they are unable to save anything. On the other hand, 10% manage to put aside at least RON 1,000 (EUR 200) per month with peaks of 12% among those interviewed aged 25-34. The difference between men and women who do so, however, is significant - only 7% of women do so, compared to 13% of men.

44% of respondents say they have one or more deposit accounts in digital, traditional banks, or a combination of the two. 13% have opened deposit accounts exclusively in digital banks. The age group that uses it most is Millennials, with 45% saying they have at least one. The difference between men and women is evident here as well: only 39% of women say they have at least one deposit account, while among men the percentage rises to 50%.

53% of Romanians say they also make investments of a different nature (for example cryptocurrencies, shares, ETFs, Money Market funds, etc.). In general, 55% of Romanians consider them a valid way of saving. Millennials (52%) are still the most interested in this type of tool, while only 30% of over 65 confirm that they use it.

A Romanian client investing in stocks and ETFs generates, on average, 4 trading orders per month and invests around EUR 1,650 per month in US stocks, exchange-traded funds, or European stocks, more recently. About 77% of investors are men and 23% are women.

When talking about their favorite investment or savings instruments, Romanians are more likely to evaluate deposit accounts (22%), followed by 3, 6 or 12-month fixed deposit products (35%). 27% of those interviewed are interested in bonds, between those who prefer state bonds (25%) and those who prefer so-called corporate bonds (2%).

Investments in shares are indicated by 21% of Romanians but we note a significant difference in terms of gender and age: men in fact indicate them at 24% compared to 18% of women and more mature generations prefer them compared to younger age groups (19% for 18-24 y.o vs 22% for 35-44 y.o.).

The financial app Revolut, which has over 35 million customers globally and 3 million in Romania, has carried out the study with the research company Dynata to look into how much Romanians save, their attitudes in terms of investments and savings, and the topic of fraud, interviewing a representative sample of the Romanian population of over 1,000 people.