Analytics, Baltic, Financial Services, Markets and Companies

The survey found out that Estonians (78% of the respondents) had most individual savings, while Latvians (46%) had least. Lithuanian residents (31%) are in the middle. The average savings in all three states were below 1,000 euros in most cases, writes LETA/ELTA.

Lithuanians tend to have larger sums in cash; Estonians more often prefer advanced investment tools. Among the polled, the majority agreed on the importance of savings.

However, all the respondents in the three countries indicated the lack of money as the main reason why they were not saving up. Only 21% of the Estonian respondents, 15% of Lithuanians and 12% of Latvians said they could start saving or build up their savings. Consumption is preferred by 13% of Lithuanian respondents, compared to 6% of Latvians and 2% of Estonians. Half of the respondents regretted their previous saving habits and would like to increase their private savings.

The study on the individual savings of the Baltic residents was carried out from April till May 2011 by the Lithuanian Spinter Tyrimai, Latvia's Data Serviss and Turu Uuringute in Estonia. The market research and public opinion companies interviewed 1,000 respondents in each of the three countries.