According to a survey conducted by the Center for Financial Services Research at the Steinbeis University in Berlin (CFin), commissioned by Reisebank, private households in Germany hold more gold than the Bundesbank. The study reveals that German households possessed approximately 9,089 tonnes of gold (including jewelry and physical assets) in 2021. In comparison, the gold holdings of the Deutsche Bundesbank amounted to only about 3,362 tonnes by the end of 2020.
Private German investors have long held much more gold in their safes and vaults than the Deutsche Bundesbank. This is the result of a gold study conducted by Reisebank and the Center for Financial Services Research at the Steinbeis University in Berlin. Germans now own over 9,000 tonnes of gold, which is 2.7 times more than the Bundesbank, whose holdings have remained virtually the same. The Germans (private households and Bundesbank) hold 6.2% of the world’s gold reserves, with a current value of over €616 billion.
According to CFin experts, gold continues to be sought after as a means of preserving value and protecting against inflation. It is also considered a proven hedge in times of crisis, as demonstrated once again during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The satisfaction with gold as an investment product is reported to be high at 93.2%. Private investors particularly value holding a tangible asset. Overall, 41.7% of German adults, or 28.9 million people, own gold in the form of bars or coins.
On average, each adult possesses about 75 grams of investment gold.
Thus, each German citizen over the age of 18 holds an average of about 75 grams of investment gold and around 56 grams of gold jewelry. Regional differences are notable, with investors from southern Germany owning approximately 95 grams of gold per person, while investors from eastern Germany average around 61 grams.
Between 2019 and 2021, a quarter of the respondents bought investment gold, including about 5% first-time buyers, who spent an average of €4,250. More than half of the purchases were in the form of traditional gold bars and ingots, while about a third preferred gold coins. Only 11% sold their gold during the specified period. When asked if they would continue to buy gold, 76.6% of the respondents answered affirmatively.
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