The Savers
Gross savings as a share of GDP, six major economies, 2000 to today
- Unit
- % of GDP
- Frequency
- Annual
- Coverage
- 2000–2025
- Evidence Quality
- High
Gross savings as a share of GDP — the US saving least and borrowing from the world, high-saving Asia far above.
Line chart, 2000 to 2025. Gross savings (% of GDP). 6 series: United States, China, India, Germany, Japan and Brazil. United States is highlighted; its latest reading is 16.6% in 2024.
Question
How much does each economy save — and why does the richest save the least?
Evidence
Gross savings — the share of income not consumed — is the pool that finances investment at home or is lent from abroad. The United States is the low outlier: it saves the least of the six, near 17% and falling, and covers the gap by borrowing from the rest of the world. Far above sit the high savers — China over 40%, India and Japan around a third — supplying much of the capital the US and others draw on; only Brazil saves less than America.
Observation
Read level, slope and timing together.
Savings and investment are two sides of a coin: whatever a country saves but does not invest at home flows abroad as a current-account surplus — and whatever it invests beyond its saving is borrowed.
Assessment
- The US saves the least and is trending lower — the mirror image of its borrowing from the world.
- China is the great saver at over 40% of GDP — the domestic fuel for its investment-led model.
- India and Japan are high savers too, around a third of GDP, funding investment and overseas holdings.
Advantage
- What does the saving fund?The Investment Gap
- Where does the surplus go?Creditors and Debtors
- How much does it export?The Exporters