Households’ Financial Savings Remain Significant

Hungarian households’ net financial savings as a percentage of GDP stood at 4.6% in 2025, which continues to exceed the averages of regional and EU countries, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) reports.

Households’ net financial wealth continued to grow over the course of last year, reaching 117% of GDP by year-end. To ensure sustainable growth, it is particularly important that savings remain at a consistently high level in the future, the report notes.

Households’ net financial savings as a percentage of GDP moderated to 4.6% in 2025. However, this value still exceeds the average level typical of regional and EU countries. The expansion of households’ financial assets was driven by deposits, investment fund units, and the purchase of foreign assets, while government securities lost their appeal to a certain extent. Thanks to continued substantial financial savings and revaluation effects, households’ net financial wealth as a percentage of GDP rose to 117% of GDP in 2025, the MNB says.

As a result of the strengthening of the forint exchange rate, in 2025, returns on forint-denominated assets typically outperformed the forint-equivalent returns of foreign currency-denominated assets with a similar risk profile – while the real returns on euro- or dollar-denominated assets were typically negative. The appreciating forint exchange rate supported savings denominated in forint by providing higher returns.

The development of household financial savings has a significant impact on the functioning of the economy. This is because adequate levels and structures of household financial savings, as well as the distribution of financial wealth across households, play a key role in sustainably achieving the inflation target, ensuring the stability of the financial system and fostering the sustainable growth of the economy.