Poles are saving like never before. But why do they keep billions in their accounts?

At the end of April 2025, the value of Poles' savings—including bank deposits, cash, and Treasury bonds —reached a record high of PLN 1.92 trillion. Savings grew by PLN 30 billion in the first four months of this year. Including additional savings in open pension funds, employee capital plans (PPK), investment funds, and funds invested on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the total amount of Poles' savings now exceeds PLN 2.5 trillion.

The reason for this phenomenon is the real improvement in the financial situation of households. Since the fourth quarter of 2023, wage growth has clearly outpaced the growth rate of consumer prices. According to data from the Central Statistical Office, over the past four years, average monthly wages in the corporate sector have increased by over 52%, while CPI inflation during the same period was just under 40%, indicating a real increase in average wages of over 12%.

However, it is not nominal income, but disposable income that determines the actual possibilities of saving. According to the report published on May 29 by the Central Statistical Office "The situation of households in 2024 in the light of the household budget survey", the average disposable income per person in 2024 amounted to PLN 3,167 and was higher than the income from 2023, which means a nominal increase of 18.3 percent, and a real increase of 14.1 percent. On the other hand, the average monthly expenditure per person in households reached PLN 1,878 in 2024, i.e. a nominal increase of 14.8 percent, and a real increase of 10.8 percent. The higher dynamics of disposable income than expenditure translated into a decrease in the share of expenditure in disposable income from 61.1 percent in 2023 to 59.3 percent. in 2024. This change is key because it means that Poles can save more. And indeed, many households declared in the GUS study that they have a financial surplus and are "able to save regularly".

Photo: author's materials

It is also worth noting that, as in previous years, relatively large variations in average monthly income and expenditures across different socioeconomic groups of households continued in 2024. The highest average monthly disposable income per person in households, at PLN 3,790, and average monthly expenditures per person, at PLN 2,151, were recorded in 2024 in households of self-employed individuals outside of agriculture. Farmers' households, on the other hand, had the lowest share of expenditures in income (39.6%), which translated into the highest average surplus of income over expenditures, at PLN 1,998. The lowest surplus between disposable income and expenditures was recorded in households of retirees and pensioners.

Photo: author's materials

Based on the above data, it can be concluded that the savings potential is particularly present in groups of professionally active people, which is consistent with economic intuition.

The structure of Polish household savings clearly shows that Poles still prefer safe and liquid forms of capital investment. The vast majority of money is held in bank accounts, which totaled PLN 1,355.4 billion at the end of April 2025. Of this, approximately 70% is held in current and savings accounts. It is these forms of saving – easily accessible yet low-interest – that enjoy the greatest public confidence, despite inflation and fluctuating interest rates.

A large portion of savings remains in the form of cash – at the end of April 2025, the balance in circulation was PLN 408.7 billion. This savings structure suggests that Poles prefer immediate access to funds – at the expense of lower interest rates. This is a so-called conservative strategy: instead of "freezing" funds for 6–12 months, they prefer to keep them "on hand," even if the bank pays only 1–2%.

This model is characterized by operating under conditions of high uncertainty, which limits the effective use of available resources. Although Poles are nominally saving more and more, preferring easy and quick access to their funds and a lack of risk, they are not fully utilizing the opportunities to increase their capital. Last year's National Debt Register survey, "Savings Barometer 2023," showed that 47% of respondents declared they were saving "out of fear of inflation and price increases."

Further growth in the balance of current deposits indicates that the behavior of Poles has not changed significantly – the strategy of saving without a specific consumption goal dominates. Instead of "for vacation", "for a car" or "for retirement", we are building a kind of financial safety buffer for "worse times".

Meanwhile, the Central Statistical Office's consumer sentiment surveys show that recent quarters have seen a significant improvement in the assessment of households' current financial situation, as well as current and future savings opportunities. When Poles choose other forms of investment than cash or bank deposits in the financial market, they most often choose treasury bonds and investment funds. At the end of 2024, Poles held approximately PLN 150 billion in treasury bonds, a 30% increase compared to the previous year. Interestingly, this increase occurred despite a decline in treasury bond indices in the fourth quarter and less attractive issuance terms.

This only confirms the thesis that for many investors, security and predictability are still what counts above all else, and bonds – even in a more difficult market environment – ​​still meet these expectations. What’s more, they provide an opportunity to protect the purchasing power of financial surpluses.

At the same time, the investment fund market experienced dynamic growth. Retail fund assets (excluding employee capital plans) reached approximately PLN 250 billion. Debt funds saw a particularly strong inflow, with investors depositing over PLN 10 billion in the first four months of 2025. Over the past 12 months, funds attracted an average of PLN 3.1 billion in capital, demonstrating that Poles are increasingly understanding how to diversify their investments and strike a balance between risk and return potential. Savers are also increasingly using more diverse financial tools, a symptom of a maturing national investment culture.

The relatively high risk aversion is also confirmed by the low share of stock investments in the average Pole's portfolio. GPW data from the end of 2024 indicate that out of almost 2 million brokerage accounts, only 267 thousand were active, and the share of individual investors in stock market turnover oscillated around 12-13 percent.

Despite the growing popularity of long-term pension instruments such as PPK, IKE, and IKZE, the total share of these forms of saving was small, at approximately 2%. Therefore, there is room for growth in this type of savings in the future. According to PFR data, at the end of May 2025, the net asset value of the funds reached PLN 37.3 billion, representing a 40% increase year-on-year, while the number of active PPK accounts was approximately 4.7 million. According to KNF data at the end of 2024 (the latest available data; the KNF publishes reports on IKE and IKZE semi-annually), the number of IKZE accounts exceeded 964,600 (PLN 22.8 billion in accumulated funds), and the number of IKZE accounts reached 593,100 (PLN 12.1 billion in assets).

Although, according to PFR data, the average rate of return on PPK has been 42.7% on average since the beginning of the program, this form of savings is still greatly underestimated by Poles.

In Poland, one alternative to investing capital is real estate, primarily residential. Real estate investments are perceived as a stable and safe form of capital investment, especially in the face of inflation and low interest rates on bank deposits . Although access to mortgage loans is limited due to relatively high interest rates and the lack of new support programs, some people save money to finance a down payment or purchase a home for cash in a few years. As a result, many households may accumulate savings in anticipation of improved creditworthiness or more favorable property prices.

One of the necessary conditions for the reasonable investment of one's financial surpluses is knowledge about the financial instruments available on the market and the risk associated with investing. Interesting conclusions can be drawn from the cyclical survey "Level of financial knowledge of Poles 2025" conducted by the Warsaw Institute of Banking in March. The respondents were very critical of their knowledge about investing and the functioning of the capital market. Only 12% of respondents considered their knowledge of the principles of operation of the Warsaw Stock Exchange to be very or rather large. The vast majority - as many as 58% - assessed it as very or rather small, and over 20% admitted that they had no knowledge in this area.

These results show clear differences depending on the level of education and age. People with primary education most often declared a lack of knowledge, while the highest self-esteem was presented by people aged 35–44 and those with higher education. Knowledge of specific financial instruments also leaves much to be desired. Shares are the most recognizable - 32% of respondents declared that they know exactly what they are. Bonds are known to 29% of respondents. Other instruments, such as ETFs, futures contracts or options, are known only to a few - most respondents have never heard of them.

Fears related to investing are common and strongly influence financial decisions of Poles. The most frequently mentioned reason for not investing is fear of loss (61%), as well as general fear of risk (59%) and lack of sufficient knowledge (44%). These barriers are particularly visible among young people and those with lower education.

The WIB study clearly shows that Poles have a low self-assessment of their investment knowledge, which translates into limited activity in the capital market and a high degree of caution in making investment decisions. This knowledge is strongly correlated with education level and age, indicating the need for further financial education, particularly among younger and less educated populations. Therefore, increasing the level of financial and investing knowledge is essential if Poles' behavior and savings habits are to be changed.

The real increase in disposable income and the decline in the expenditure-to-income ratio allowed Polish households to accumulate financial surpluses, contributing to an increase in the savings rate. This is undoubtedly a positive trend, especially in light of Eurostat data, which shows that the private savings rate in Poland reached 10.6% at the end of last year, compared to the average for European Union countries of 14.5%. It's worth noting that just a few years ago, a significant portion of society declared no savings at all, making today's figure a transformational success for the Polish economy.

This positive trend, however, is not without structural weaknesses. The vast majority of accumulated funds are still held in the least efficient forms – primarily in cash and current accounts. Poles are investing little of their savings in assets that generate real income. They are not building investment capital and are not adequately securing their future, especially their retirement.

The high inflation of 2022–2023 triggered a strong defensive reaction: many began accumulating funds as a "financial cushion" without any specific purpose, motivated by uncertainty and fear of economic destabilization. While understandable in the short term, such behavior in the long term results in a loss of real purchasing power of accumulated funds. Meanwhile, the appropriate response to economic and financial uncertainty should be based not only on accumulating savings but also on their rational allocation, taking into account diversification, investment horizon, and risk profile.

A source of optimism is the observed dynamic growth in interest in long-term savings instruments, such as Employee Capital Plans (PPK), Individual Pension Accounts (IKE), Individual Pension Security Accounts (IKZE), and treasury bonds. If this trend continues, it could contribute to greater financial system resilience and economic stability over the years. However, it cannot be ignored that as many as 72% of Poles rate their knowledge of investing—especially in the capital market—as very low or nonexistent. In this context, widespread economic education, focused on the practical aspects of personal finance management, saving, and investing, is crucial.

Building a mature investor society will not only increase the financial security of households but also make the Polish economy more resilient to external shocks and cyclical market turbulence. However, if savings continue to remain passive – unprofitable and uninvested – there is a real risk of wasting the potential we, as a society, have painstakingly developed in recent years.