A survey of Italians’ propensity to invest has found that they are a population of savers and aspiring investors.
This is what emerged from the results of a survey conducted by OnePoll, on behalf of the crypto exchange Bitpanda, on a sample of 1,000 participants.
These results show that 66% of respondents said they were open to the possibility of starting to invest, with an average budget of €260, although this figure varies depending on the age group considered.
The sample is very limited, given that there are almost 60 million Italians, and the size of the average budget is very low, but the percentage of those who said they were ready to invest is very high.
Italians are known to be a people of savers, with more than 1,700 billion euros on deposit in their bank accounts, equal to €28,000 for each Italian, but it was always believed that this propensity to save was the result of a certain aversion to risk.
Something may have changed recently, although €260 of the average investment budget, compared with an average savings of €28,000, suggests that those who have changed their minds have done so with a high degree of caution.
In addition, 42% of women and 30% of men interviewed stated that they had never invested because they did not have enough money to do so.
The main objective of these investments would be to add new financial income to the salary normally received, with young people being more inclined: 67.5% of millennials and Generation Z, compared to 55% of the over-55s. However, it seems rather unlikely that they would be able to generate a significant source of income with an average investment of only €260.
The lockdown seems to have given a decisive boost to this phenomenon, encouraging Italians to consider various types of investment, such as cryptocurrencies. In Italy, for example, the number of Bitpanda users has more than doubled since 2020.
Bitpanda Country Manager Orlando Merone said:
“Contrary to what one might imagine, our survey shows that not only are Italians potentially very open to the world of investments, they also have a great desire to take control of their financial lives. However, this tendency is often held back by two macro factors: fear and lack of expertise. The first step in breaking down these barriers is to ensure maximum operational transparency and provide tools that allow even small amounts of money to be invested. Secondly, and this is probably the most challenging aspect, it is necessary to spread a greater financial culture in the country, through educational paths that, starting from a young age at school, can increase basic skills, and not only in economics courses”.
