It’s not getting any better for Irish savers. In fact, it could be getting worse. New figures show that Irish savers continue to earn the lowest return on their deposits, and the trend remains downwards.
According to Raisin, a provider of pan-European deposits, which has yet to venture into the Irish market despite its intentions to do so, Ireland is the Xand currently offers savers an average return on new deposits of just 0.03 per cent. This means that €10,000 invested at such a rate will return just €3 after a year, while €100,000 will earn just a paltry €30. Rates are also very low - but not as low - in Spain (0.04%); Belgium (0.16%) and Portugal (0.13%).
“Ireland persists with the lowest rates in Euro territory,” the survey says, noting that savers in other Euro zone jurisdictions continue to benefit from much higher rates.
Top of the pile is the Netherlands, where savers can earn an average return of 1.22 per cent on their deposits, or France, where a return of 1.1 per cent is possible. Achieving such a rate would boost the return of our saver with €10,000 to €122 or €110 a year, while our saver with €100,000 on deposit would see their return rocket from just €30 to €1,220 in the Netherlands.
And not only is the Irish rate the lowest, but it is also getting worse, regardless of the fact that the European Central Bank hasn't touched interested rates in recent years. Indeed average Irish deposit rates are down by 57 per cent on this time last year, the Raisin survey shows. This trend is right across deposit rates, with rates down by 19 per cent in the Netherlands and by 12 per cent in France.
Longer term savings
When it comes to longer rates, Irish savers do a little bit better, with an average one-year rate of 0.38 per cent, bringing an annual return on €10,000 up to €38. It is again, however, the lowest rate on offer in the Euro zone, and lags far behind Italy (1.72%) and Germany (1.01%).
When it comes to three-year rates, Ireland has a higher rate of 0.47 per cent, but again, this is the lowest, behind Italy (2.25%); Germany (1.29%) and France (1.32%).
