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German Citizens Hold Most of the Country's Gold

28 May 2019 - Gold News

Many of the world’s larger nations, including India and China, are well known for importing, buying and hoarding gold for both jewelry and for investing.  

But there is also a European nation that does the same, and that nation is none other than Germany. The Reisebank, a bank active in the Germany’s financial market, has provided some figures via a survey conducted by the Research Center for Financial Serivces (CFIN).

The survey suggests that the German population currently holds about 8918 tonnes of gold, most of which is stored privately. It translates to about €330 billion according to the current gold price. However, keep in mind that this amount excludes the 3370 tonnes of gold held by the central bank of Germany.

Classification Of Those 8918 Tonnes:

CFIN claims that about 55% (4925 tonnes) of the total 8918 tonnes of gold held by the German population is in the form of bars and coins (mostly used for investment purposes). The remaining 45% (3993 tonnes) is gold jewelry.

Germany currently has a population of around 82 million people. 69 million of those people are over the age 18. 26 million people in Germany own gold bars and coins for investment purposes, and 45 million people own gold jewelry. Only 14.5% of Germany’s adult population own gold in the form of an ETF.

2019 Report on Gold Investments:

Gold Investments 2019 is a report published with the results of CFIN's study. This report calculates the total gold held by the German population by adding up different forms of it, analyzes the attitude of people towards this precious metal and records the buying and selling trends in the German gold market.

In 2010, the same CFIN report calculated German gold holdings to be at 7558 tonnes, and 3992 tonnes was in the form of gold coins and bars used mostly for investment purposes. Since 2010, Germans have added another 1360 tonnes of gold to their huge svings, 933 tonnes of which have been in the form of gold coins and bars.

Some Interesting Findings:

The German people hold about 3 times as much gold as the German central bank. It is customary among adults to hold a certain amount of gold, though most of it is in the form of coins or bars for investment purposes. The current 8918 tonnes is the highest recorded amount of gold held by German citizens in history.

The majority of people who completed the survey said that they are happy with their choice of gold as an investment and intend to buy more of it in the near future. German people are often very picky and make sure that they are buying the best quality gold from a trusted dealer.

Where Is Gold Stored?

When asked where precious metals are stored, 38% of participating Germans said that they simply keep it in their home. 39% said that they keep their precious metals in safe deposit boxes at banks while 5% use some other third party services to secure their gold.

The number of Germans (26 million) holding physical gold for investments is staggering. It also allows us to examine and appreciate the German mentality towards this precious metal. However, the motivational factor behind these gold hoards seems to be the hyperinflation of the 1920s, which destroyed the value of the paper currency in a matter of days. So, it looks like Germany may be getting ready for another hard time.

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