Financial investments by French households in 2026: savings and crypto-assets

French savings: trends observed in 2026

Are the savings trends observed over the first eight months of 2026, a pattern that confirms the pre-eminence of life insurance inflows, already showing signs of hitting a limit? Looking ahead, is there a risk that the squeeze on purchasing power, the rise in French long-term interest rates, and heightened uncertainty will depress financial savings flows in the second half of the year?

A crisis that hits France particularly hard

The macroeconomic assumptions presented last April have been upended by a double shock: developments in the Middle East conflict and the sharp rise in the risk premium on French sovereign debt. What was initially expected to be a short-lived conflict has evolved into a prolonged confrontation with Iran, leading to an extension of the commodity price shock. As a result, inflation is running higher than anticipated, averaging 2.2% for the year, 0.6 percentage points above the previous forecast of 1.6%.

It should be remembered that the current crisis is affecting the French economy through three channels: a decline in purchasing power, an increase in input costs for businesses, and a weakening in global demand for French goods and services. Taken together, these factors are reducing French GDP growth by 0.6 percentage points, to 0.4% in 2026 instead of 1.0%. As a result, economic activity in France has been hit harder than in the euro area as a whole. It therefore appears likely that the stagflationary impact will be greater than initially anticipated, coming on top of existing concerns over fiscal fragility.

With regard to interest rates, the spread between the French 10-year OAT and the German Bund widened significantly from September onwards, reaching 140 basis points (bps) on October 1^st reflecting the deterioration in public finances ahead of the forthcoming elections. The European Central Bank is expected to raise its deposit facility rate to 2.75% by December, implying a cumulative increase of 75 bps over the year (compared with a previous assumption of only 25 bps) owing to heightened inflationary risks. The yield on the 10-year OAT is therefore 115 bps higher under the current scenario than in the scenario envisaged at the beginning of the year.

Life insurance remains the preferred investment choice

Net inflows¹ into financial saving instruments (excluding securities) reached €55.6bn over the first eight months of 2026, an increase of €10.1bn compared with the same period of 2025. Life insurance (€43.5bn versus €36.6bn in 2025) remained the dominant savings product among French households. It was followed by term deposits, which posted net inflows of €12.3bn after net outflows of €6.5bn in 2025, reflecting renewed investor interest.

The decline in the balances of PEL regulated home savings plans (€17.7bn of net outflows) did not intensify, given that withdrawals were substantially lower than anticipated. Passbook savings accounts, especially regulated savings products such as the Livret A (−€4.2bn after +€3.1bn in 2025), continued to be penalized by their low rates of return. The sharp rise in sight deposits was largely attributable to a one-off accounting effect. Outstanding balances increased artificially by €10bn in April owing to the reclassification of segregated accounts². If this technical factor is excluded, April inflows amounted to just €1.5bn.

¹ Flows excluding capitalized interest and excluding capital gains.
² A segregated account (also called a separate or ring-fenced account) is a bank account in which a financial intermediary (such as an online broker) deposits its clients’ funds separately from its own corporate funds.

€55.6bn Net inflows into financial investments excluding securities over the first 8 months of 2026

Term deposits are regaining momentum in pace with the rise in interest rates. This is expected to moderate life insurance inflows, particularly into euro funds. Having recorded net outflows of €7.7bn in 2025, term deposits have seen monthly inflows accelerate over the summer. While life insurance inflows remained particularly strong in the first half of the year, they slowed in August, especially for euro funds, owing to the increase in the Livret A rate, a less buoyant economic environment and stronger competition from term deposits.

To date, PEL regulated home savings planswith a 15-year term that were automatically closed starting in March have not led to outflows as large as anticipated. Commercial banks probably saw this run-off coming and turned the maturity into opportunities by recycling PEL balances well in advance into life insurance, PER retirement savings plans, or in-house savings accounts.

The August 1 increase in the interest rate paid on Livret A accounts will not be enough to push net inflows into positive territory for the yeareven though it mayslow outflows from the Livret A and LDDS sustainable development savings accounts, while boosting term deposit inflows at the expense of life insurance and sight deposits. Indeed, according to the BPCE L’Observatoire Barometer survey, the French increasingly expressed their intention in September 2026 to choose the Livret A and LDDS passbook savings accounts for their savings. What is more, given the current economic environment, the second-half 2026 average interest rate is expected to be 2.3% for the euro short-term rate (€STR) and 2.9% for inflation excluding tobacco. By February 1, 2027, the interest rates paid on the Livret A, the LEP popular savings passbook account, and the CEL home savings account could reach 2.60%, 3.10%, and 1.75% respectively.

How will savings be impacted by economic shocks in 2026?

French households’ financial investments could fall considerably short of €50bn in 2026. Indeed, investments are being held back by subdued mortgage lending and by the erosion of purchasing power triggered by the sharp rise in energy inflation. As a consequence, sluggish growth in outstanding loans and the decline in purchasing power are expected to reduce the overall resources available to households to save, invest in housing, and repay debt.

As in last April’s analysis, the same robust econometric model of net inflows can be used to assess the impact of this new scenario on financial savings in 2026. Over the long term, net inflows are driven positively by growth in purchasing power (a source of income) and housing loans (a source of borrowing), and negatively by the 10-year OAT yield, as returns on interest-bearing products generate an income effect that implicitly reduces the incentive to save more.

The new scenario should lead to a sharper reduction of €19.7bn in financial investments, mainly owing to the contraction in household purchasing power (−€15.2bn relative to the scenario prevailing at the start of the year). Indeed, the impact of rising interest rates would be a priori small (−€2.4bn), as would the impact of lower mortgage lending (−€2.1bn).

Overall, French financial investments should amount to €51.2bn in 2026 under this new scenario, or €41.2bn if the artificial impact of the €10bn reclassification of sight deposits is excluded. The impact is expected to be particularly negative for sight deposits and possibly for securities, which could also suffer from a decline in the CAC 40 stock market index in the fourth quarter of the year.

Life insurance, though still strong, could lose steam in the third four-month period of the year owing to the uncertain outlook, weak purchasing power, and the rise in the rates of interest paid on the Livret A and term deposits.

Net inflows are expected nonetheless to be driven largely by life insurance (€54bn) but also by maturity-based investments (€14.5bn, including term deposits), at the expense of home savings schemes (−€29.0bn) and regulated savings accounts (−€7.6bn). The latter are not expected to benefit enough from the August 1 increase in regulated rates, given the rise in market interest rates.

Crypto-assets: ownership, profiles, and motivations

BPCE L’Observatoire also examines the place of crypto-assets in savings choices. The data presented in the study come from a variety of sources, including France’s financial markets authority (AMF), the European Central Bank, the Association pour le développement des actifs numériques (Adan, the Association for the Development of Digital Assets), and BPCE L’Observatoire. They are comparable insofar as they all derive from four online surveys of representative samples of the French and European populations.

What is a crypto-asset?

A crypto-asset is a digital representation of a value or a right that can be transferred and stored electronically using distributed ledger technology (DLT) or similar technology. Two generations are distinguished: the first, with no corresponding liability, such as Bitcoin, consists of non-financial assets; the second, with a corresponding liability and referred to as stablecoins, consists of financial assets.

Currently, the market capitalization of crypto-assets stands at nearly $2.75 trillion. First-generation assets account for 90% and second-generation assets for 10%. Bitcoin is by far the leading crypto-asset (60.3% of total capitalization), ahead of Ethereum (10.7%), Tether (6.7%), BNB (3.5%), XRP (3.0%), and USDC (2.6%).

Ownership varies by country and by survey

In France, the crypto-asset ownership rate is slightly lower when compared with the larger euro area: 7.3% in France according to the ECB’s Consumer Expectations Survey, versus 10.6% for the euro area overall. The lowest ownership rate is in Italy (6.6%) and the highest in Portugal (18.3%).

Ownership is expected to keep rising in Europe. In nearly every euro area country, more people are considering buying crypto-assets than currently hold them, particularly in Portugal and the Netherlands. Indeed, crypto-asset ownership is rising year after year, albeit by less than stated purchase intentions would suggest.

In France, the various data sources paint different pictures, with a minimum rate of 5.4% for BPCE L’Observatoire and a maximum of 11.0% for Adan. In addition to the accuracy of the barometer surveys, which notably depends on sample size, these differences may stem from underreporting or from a cyclical effect a few weeks after platforms became required to hold a license. However, all the studies agree that ownership has risen over the years.

³ A monthly online survey conducted to gather high-frequency data on households’ perceptions, financial behavior, and expectations.

Who owns crypto-assets?

Crypto-asset ownership is higher among men, young people, and high earners, and more so in France than in the euro area, possibly owing to less widespread availability of these assets.

The average amount per holder is €9,000 in France versus €9,200 in the euro area as a whole. The lowest is €2,400 in Portugal and the highest €13,200 in Germany. 48% of French holders own less than €1,000 in crypto-assets (52% in the euro area), and only 4.0% own €50,000 or more (4.6% in the euro area).

How crypto-assets are perceived

The image of a sector that is “unregulated and poorly supervised (scams, fraud, etc.)” has receded markedly (31%, down 11 points from 2023), reflecting a more mature perception of this asset class. Differences exist by respondent profile: current crypto-asset holders cite above all the prospects for returns (54%). Those under 35 more frequently think it is a speculative bubble that has begun to burst (22%) and that these are risky investments (23%). Those under 35 more often think that crypto-assets are risky investments (25%), while 16% see them as original, innovative investment vehicles.

Motivations and barriers to investing in crypto-assets

The desire to diversify savings (41%) is by far the top motivation for investing in this type of asset. Next come higher returns (34%) and a quick return on investment (27%). Current holders (as opposed to future holders) place even more emphasis on diversifying savings (52%), while future holders are more attracted by tax optimization (27%) and privacy protection (21%).

The three main barriers to crypto-asset ownership among the French are lack of trust (55%), followed by lack of knowledge (40%), and the feeling that these assets are subject to too high a degree of volatility (22%). Volatility is a particular deterrent for former holders (34%). Those resistant to crypto-assets have even less trust (57%) and are marked by a more pronounced lack of knowledge (41%).

Crypto-assets in the financial portfolios of French households

Crypto-asset holders have a particularlycomplete and diversified portfolio of financial assets. Compared with the French population as a whole, they stand out with a markedly higher ownership rate of stocks and bonds (47% vs. 17%), unit-linked life insurance (32% vs. 15%), atypical investments (25% vs.3%), and employee savings plans or PER (41% vs. 22%).

The proportion of current or future crypto-asset investors is trending up (16%, +2 percentage points (pp) vs. November 2024). In a way, crypto-assets are coming closer to gold, which has a large pool of investors and continues to attract them (28% current or potential investors, up 6 pp vs. November 2024).

Platforms, trust, and awareness of the regulatory framework

Ownership is fairly recent, under two years in 59% of cases. It is dominated by the market leaders: Bitcoin (68%) and Ethereum (36%). Performance and risk levels and available liquidity are the top three selection criteria.

For managing these assets, banks enjoy a high level of trust: 36% of French people have more trust in a bank-operated platform. Ready access to funds (47%), the platform’s level of compliance (45%), overall trust in the provider (43%), and fee levels (42%) are the four strongest markers in choosing a platform.

Specialized platforms currently remain the primary access channel for crypto-assets, being used in 89% of cases, although users may rely on multiple channels. Banks are involved in 31% of purchase and investment processes. Two-thirds of crypto-asset holders have carried out at least one purchase or sale transaction during the past year, while almost 70% trade less than once a month. More than half of crypto-asset holders (55%) are aware of the European Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. By contrast, awareness among potential future holders is considerably lower, at just 28%. Furthermore, 17% of existing holders report having faced difficulties when attempting to recover funds invested in crypto-assets.

30% of French people have heard of the digital euro, especially crypto-asset holders (69%), former holders (52%), and those who plan to hold some in the next 12 months (40%). Opinions are mixed on the principle of creating it: 40% of French people who expressed a view consider it a good thing, with stronger support among past, current, and future holders (58%, 66%, and 52%, respectively).

⁴ MiCA, or Markets in Crypto-Assets (the crypto-assets market regulation), is a European Union regulation aimed at creating a harmonized regulatory framework for digital assets within the EU. MiCA’s purpose is to protect investors and preserve financial stability while fostering innovation and competition in the cryptocurrency sector.
⁵ The digital euro is a central bank digital currency project being developed by the European Central Bank (ECB). Endorsed in July 2021 by the ECB Governing Council and then by the European Parliament in February 2024, it aims to create a public currency in the image of cash (banknotes and coins) that is fully digital, thereby enabling individuals to make payments.