In May of this year, mainland residents saw a decrease of 110 billion yuan in their savings, following a decrease of 1.94 trillion yuan in the previous month, resulting in a total reduction of 2.05 trillion yuan over the two months. The question of “Where did the residents’ savings go?” has sparked heated discussions.
On June 12, the Central Bank of the Communist Party of China released the financial data for May of this year. While residents’ savings increased by 5.63 trillion yuan in the first five months of the year, this increase was 2.67 trillion yuan less compared to the same period last year.
According to statistics from Wind, residents’ savings decreased by 110 billion yuan in the month of May alone, continuing the trend from April where savings decreased by 1.94 trillion yuan. This indicates a combined decrease of 2.05 trillion yuan in residents’ savings over April and May.
In contrast to residents’ savings, non-bank financial institutions representing wealth management, funds, insurance, and securities saw an increase in deposits for two consecutive months.
Data shows that in April and May of this year, non-bank financial institutions witnessed an increase of 2.47 trillion yuan and 1.14 trillion yuan respectively in their deposits, totaling an increase of 3.61 trillion yuan.
An analysis by Yang Yewei, an analyst at Guosheng Securities, mentioned in a report by Southern Metropolis Daily, stated that given the pressure on employment and income, the growth rate of per capita consumer spending has slowed down significantly compared to per capita disposable income. This implies that the willingness to save is still high among residents. As the sales of real estate in residents’ savings continue to slow down, more savings are being channeled into financial assets.
While resident savings are decreasing, the amount of financial assets held by residents in other forms is continuing to rise. It is estimated that in the first quarter of 2026, residents’ holdings of wealth management products, currency funds, bond funds, stock funds, and insurance increased by 25,000 billion yuan, 17,000 billion yuan, 7,000 billion yuan, 4,000 billion yuan, and 19,000 billion yuan respectively, totaling 71,000 billion yuan. The decline in returns on residents’ savings is driving more funds into these non-bank wealth management products, resulting in an overall increase in residents’ savings but with a change in the form of savings.
The topic of “Where did the savings go? Residents’ savings decrease for two consecutive months: a total shrinkage of over 2 trillion yuan” has trended on Weibo in recent days.
Some internet users commented that the continuous decline in deposit rates, with one-year fixed deposits falling below 1%, is forcing funds to shift towards wealth management, bond funds, and savings insurance, as “saving money devalues.”
Others mentioned that some residents are using their funds to repay loans early to reduce their financial burdens.
In recent years, the continuous reduction of deposit rates in mainland banks has been considered one of the important reasons for the slowdown in the growth of residents’ savings. Large state-owned banks and several joint-stock banks have repeatedly lowered their deposit rates from 2025 to 2026. Currently, most banks offer one-year fixed deposit rates below 1%, with some banks around 0.8%; the rates for three-year and five-year fixed deposits have also dropped to historic lows, significantly lower than the over 3% levels seen a few years ago.
Simultaneously, many banks have been adjusting the structure of long-term deposit products in recent years. Some banks have suspended or stopped selling long-term products such as five-year fixed deposits and large-sum certificates of deposit, while those that still offer five-year products have weakened their rate advantages. The once-regarded “high-interest deposit tools” like large-sum certificates of deposit are seeing continuous declines in rates and tighter restrictions than before.
With the backdrop of declining interest rates, the attractiveness of traditional bank deposits to residents has diminished. Some funds are starting to flow into bank wealth management products, money market funds, bond funds, savings-type insurance, and the stock market.
Moreover, with the continuous decrease in mortgage rates in recent years, many residents have opted to repay their housing loans early to reduce interest expenses.