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Pedestrian zone in Stuttgart: Although well attended - but much weaker than usual at Christmas time
Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images
How quickly the economy in Germany will return to pre-crisis levels after the pandemic will also depend on how strong the consumers' mood to consume will then be.
At least the necessary money should not be lacking for many - this is indicated by data on saving behavior and the purchasing power of consumers.
According to the BVR banking association, the savings rate in Germany should reach a record level of around 17 percent this year.
This means: calculated over the whole year, private households in Germany will put an average of around 17 euros aside for every 100 euros in disposable income.
Even with the notoriously frugal consumers in Germany, this is more than ever before.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the highest savings rates to date in Germany were measured in 1991 and 1992 at 12.9 percent each.
In 2019 it was 10.9 percent.
The main reason for the high savings rate is likely to be the pandemic-related restrictions, both during the shutdowns in spring and since November.
Even expensive vacation trips were hardly possible this year.
According to BVR estimates, the increased savings of many consumers are likely to push consumption if the restrictions are permanently removed.
"After the corona pandemic has been overcome, there is a chance that German citizens will increasingly use their savings reserves for consumption," said Andreas Martin, the board of the Federal Association of German Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks (BVR).
According to BVR information, the savings rate in the third quarter of 2020 was 16.2 percent and thus significantly higher than the figure for the same period of the previous year.
In the summer of the current year, the savings rate in Germany even climbed to 21.1 percent.
Calculations by the Nuremberg consumer research company GfK point in the same direction, according to which the purchasing power of consumers in Germany is increasing during the corona crisis.
GfK is forecasting total purchasing power of just under 1966 billion euros for 2021, per capita that would be two percent more than in the previous year at 23,637 euros.
According to GfK's findings, however, the impact of the corona crisis on purchasing power is different in the individual regions.
In terms of purchasing power, Berlin was least affected by the pandemic, while Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg was most affected.
In Germany, private consumer spending represents a good half of total economic output.
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fdi / dpa
