Finnish Savings Gap: Half of Adults Have Under €5,000 in the Bank

New data from Statistics Finland shows big differences in savings between age groups and between men and women.

Half of all adults in Finland had less than €5,000 in their bank accounts at the end of 2025. The median amount—the middle figure when all deposits are lined up from smallest to largest—was just under €5,000, according to Statistics Finland's household wealth statistics. This is the first time the agency has published detailed data on how bank deposits are spread across the population.

The numbers show a wide gap between rich and poor savers. A quarter of adults had less than €770 in their accounts. At the other end, one in ten people had more than €60,000 saved in the bank.

Women and Men Save Differently

Women had a higher median balance than men—about €1,300 more. However, men had a higher average balance, with their average being more than €800 above women's.

"This tells us that deposits are distributed more unevenly among men," said Veli-Matti Törmälehto, a senior researcher at Statistics Finland. "At the upper end of the distribution, among those with the largest deposits, there are more men than women".

Age Makes a Big Difference

Age was one of the biggest factors in how much money people had in the bank. Half of people aged 85 or older had more than €31,460 in their accounts. Among young adults aged 18 to 24, half had less than €1,240.

The gap remained even when other types of financial wealth—such as shares and investment funds—were included. For people aged 85 and over, the median combined value of deposits, shares, and investment funds was about €42,000 last year. People aged 80 to 84 had the second-highest median, followed by those aged 75 to 79.

More Finns Are Investing

More people in Finland are also putting money into investments. At the end of 2025, 2.14 million people owned investment funds or listed shares. That is about 38 per cent of Finland's population. The number grew by 94,400 from 2024 and by about 680,000 over the past ten years.

Investment funds were held by 32 per cent of the population, while 17 per cent owned listed shares. Törmälehto said the introduction of Finland's equity savings account in 2020 helped increase the number of shareholders.

Young people are also joining the stock market. About 57,000 people under the age of 18 owned listed shares last year—almost twice as many as in 2015. The increase was even larger among people aged 18 to 24. The number of shareholders in that age group rose by about 140 per cent over the same ten-year period.

Gender Gap in Investing

Women now slightly outnumber men among investment fund owners. However, men still own most listed shares. About 24 per cent of adult men owned listed shares at the end of 2025, compared with 15 per cent of women. Men made up 60 per cent of all shareholders and held 70 per cent of the combined value of listed shares, according to Statistics Finland.

Education Also Matters

Education played a role in investment ownership as well. Almost two-thirds of people with a higher university degree owned listed shares or investment funds. Among adults with no qualifications beyond basic education, only one in five did.