The HNB data show that at the end of June 2023, 3,299,342 citizens had savings in credit institutions in the amount of €35.2 billion.
The data include all deposits of known holders in the accounts of natural persons - residents, at credit institutions in Croatia, regardless of whether those assets were in transaction accounts or were sight or term deposits.
Around 81% of citizens hold less than 12% of total deposits
Of the total number of savers, most, or 1.7 million (51.2%), had savings deposits in the amount of up to €1,000 and the amount in their accounts was slightly above €337 million, a share of 0.96% in the total amount of savings.
Slightly more than 685,000 savers had savings ranging from €1,000 to 5,000 per client, and their savings totalled around €1.7 billion. The share of those bank clients in the total number of savers was around 20.8% and the share of their savings in the total savings around 4.9%.
Around 288,000 citizens (8.7%) had savings ranging from €5,000 to 10,000, with those savings exceeding €2 billion (a share of around 5.8% in the total savings).
The clients with savings deposits of less than €10,000 held less than 12% of the total deposits.
The HNB data show that slightly more than 578,000 Croatians had savings of more than €10,000 and less than €100,000 per client, a share of around 17% in the total number of savers. They held around 49% of the total deposits, worth €17.4 billion.
Less than 2% of bank clients hold around 39% of total deposits
Less than 2% of bank clients with the highest amounts of savings deposits, of €100,000 and more, hold around 39% of the total deposits, the HNB data show.
More than 58,000 Croatians, a share of 1.8% in the total number of savers, have savings deposits of more than €100,000 and less than one million euros, and their savings total close to €11.3 billion, or 32% of the value of the total deposits.
A total of 964 Croatians have savings deposits of more than one million euros, and their savings exceed €2.4 billion. Their share in the total number of savers is only 0.03% but their savings account for close to 6.9% of the total savings.
Deposit concentration mildly reduced in past decade
The HNB notes that the deposit concentration has decreased slightly over the past decade, with deposits having markedly increased in all surveyed groups, with the relative increase being more pronounced in groups with lower deposits. However, the value of those deposits has remained very low, as has the share of their owners in the aggregate value of all deposits. At the same time, the amounts and shares of deposits of savers whose savings are above the average savings deposit (of €900) have increased, the HNB says.
On the other hand, the total share of deposits by account holders with the highest deposits, i.e. deposits held by 5% of the owners of the highest individual savings amounts, has decreased from 67.3 to 59.1%.
Particularly pronounced was the decrease of the share of the 1% of savers with the highest savings deposits, from 36.7% in 2014 to 30.2% in 2023.
"The said figures show a lower concentration of deposits in the owners of the highest savings deposits in 2023 compared to 2014, that is, a mild reduction in inequalities in the distribution of deposits among citizens," the HNB said.
The central bank noted that the data provide certain arguments in favour of a reduced property inequality but that one should be cautious in their interpretation because they do not include data on non-financial property, primarily real estate, and other forms of financial assets. Also, the data refer to individual account holders, not households, as is common in the analysis of income and property inequalities.
The HNB notes that as of 2024 it will start with the regular annual collection of data as of 31 December in order to calculate indicators of statistical distributions of citizens' deposits, and will publish those indicators on its website once a year.