Global financial assets in 2020 increased by 9.7 percent, reaching 200 trillion euros for the first time, and in Croatia they grew by 5.3 percent, shows an annual Allianz report on global wealth, which analyses household assets and debts in almost 60 countries.

Financial assets include cash and bank deposits, claims from insurance companies and pension institutions, securities, and other claims.

Even though in 2020 the global economy sank into the deepest recession since World War II, households managed to weather the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic with the help of monetary and fiscal policies that mobilized huge amounts to support the business sector. Savings were the main driver of the increase in household wealth because in the conditions of lockdown, which drastically reduced opportunities for spending, a global phenomenon of forced saving emerged, with savings jumping by 78 percent to a record €5.2 trillion.

Allianz expects the trend of growing saving to continue on the back of an ever higher vaccination rate, global GDP growth, loose monetary policies and continuation of generous fiscal support.

The year 2021 should thus be another good year for savings account holders, with the global growth of financial assets of around 7 percent, Allianz estimates.

Croatia: Financial assets increase by 5.3 percent

According to Allianz’s data, the gross financial assets of Croatian households in 2020 grew by 5.3 percent and the main driver were bank deposits, which account for almost half of all financial assets. They grew by 7.2 percent, the biggest increase since 2008.

The other major driver of growth were assets of insurance and pension funds, which grew by 8.3 percent, partly owing to falling interest rates.

Securities dropped by 3.4 percent, which Allianz considers is due to the poor efficiency of the Croatian stock market and the fact that compared to most neighboring countries, Croatians avoid investment in financial markets.

The net financial assets of Croatian households grew by 6.3 percent, with net financial assets per capita amounting to €12,510, which puts Croatia in 32nd place on the list of the wealthiest countries.

Croatia is the sixth wealthiest country in the region, after Slovenia (25th), the Czech Republic (26th), Estonia (27th), Hungary (30th) and Lithuania (31st), but it fares fairly better than Bulgaria (35th), Poland (37th), Slovakia (38th) and Romania (40th).