1,163 billion is sitting idle in current accounts. Inflation has eroded 11 per cent of these sums

In Milan, the current accounts of resident households have shrunk by 4 per cent over the last four years: today, the people of Milan have 3.75 billion euros less in the bank than they did in April 2022. These figures, which have been eroded by the crisis or channelled elsewhere towards more profitable forms of investment, clearly illustrate the shifts in Italian households’ liquidity triggered by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the successive waves of inflation in recent years.The shifts in Milanese bank accounts are significant, given that the Lombard capital alone accounts for almost 8 per cent of all sums deposited in banks by consumer households nationwide: approximately 90 billion out of a total of 1,163 billion euros (excluding interest-bearing or restricted forms of liquidity). The figures are taken from the table ‘Deposits by province, sector and customer sub-sector’ in the Bank of Italy’s statistical database, updated to 30 April 2026, classified by customer residence (not by branch location).

Household bank deposits remained broadly stable between April 2022 and April 2026, falling by 0.4 per cent. To understand what has happened over these years, in the wake of the energy crisis and the rise in interest rates, we need to take a broader view. “It was precisely between late 2021 and early 2022 that the amounts held in current accounts peaked, after which the growth came to a halt,” explains Fedele De Novellis of Ref Ricerche. In practice, household deposits have stopped growing and, since April 2022, data from the Bank of Italia have shown a decline, whilst remaining largely stable over the last five years. “Over the same period,” says De Novellis, “the bond market, however, has grown significantly, as have other financial assets. In effect, after years of virtually zero returns, there has been a shift in household liquidity towards other forms of investment, in light of higher interest rates.”Direct bank deposits have therefore come to a standstill, and this has primarily benefited other assets (see the article on the opposite page), but that is not all: ‘The higher income brackets have shifted their liquidity into managed savings schemes,’ continues the economist, ‘but at the same time, the household savings rate has also fallen. The accumulation of liquidity has come to an end, and little is being saved from financial assets either: investments are largely a means of preserving wealth.” In short, a hedge against inflation.

The danger of leaving money idle in non-interest-bearing current accounts is confirmed by the projection of balances in real terms, that is, at constant purchasing power: whilst the stock of deposits has remained largely stable (-0.4% to be precise), when these figures are discounted to today’s prices (using Istat’s Foi coefficients), it emerges that the sums left in accounts over the last four years have lost 11.6% in real terms. In practice, €1,000 deposited in a bank in April 2022 is now worth €884 at constant prices. To put it another way: our €1,000 in April this year would have allowed us to purchase the same quantity of goods and services as €884 would have bought four years ago.

When the amounts deposited are compared with the resident population (Istat data as at 1 January 2026), a deeply unequal geographical picture emerges.At the top of the provincial rankings are Bolzano, where households hold an average of €37,000 per capita in current accounts, Milan with €32,500 and Sondrio with €30,500 – the result of higher incomes than in the rest of the country and the presence of some large fortunes. But Milan itself illustrates the trend well: in the Lombard capital, household wealth is invested far more than elsewhere in BTPs, shares, unit trusts and asset management schemes; for this reason, the 4 per cent decline in the sums held in banks compared with four years ago should come as no surprise. High figures are also recorded in Piacenza (€31,200), Trento (€29,700) and Belluno (€29,500). At the opposite end of the ranking are Crotone, with just 11,600 euros per capita, followed by Trapani (12,900), Syracuse (13,000), Ragusa (14,200) and Palermo (14,300). The gap between the province with the highest level of liquid assets and the one with the lowest exceeds 25,000 euros per resident. ‘Income inequalities, including those between regions, are becoming increasingly pronounced,’ notes De Novellis. Whilst the wealthiest, when interest rates rose, decided to move their funds, it may well be that the less well-off have remained in place and, moreover, have reduced their ability to save.”

Nor has the restructuring of household liquidity taken place uniformly. The most substantial increases between April 2022 and April 2026 are concentrated in the South, precisely where the stock of bank deposits is lowest: among those that have seen the greatest annual increases in deposits, the Sardinian provinces stand out (+11%), Benevento (+8.6%), Caserta (+8.5%), Brindisi (+7%) and Potenza (+6.9%). In the South, the rise in employment has undoubtedly helped to underpin bank deposits, alongside the lower prevalence of alternative financial instruments, which has limited the shift of funds towards more profitable investments. At the other end of the scale, the sharpest declines are seen in the North and parts of Central Italy. Asti recorded the sharpest fall (-10.3%), followed by Biella (-8.9%), Modena (-7.7%), Alessandria (-7.6%) and Rimini (-7.3%). Furthermore, in addition to Milan, other economic hubs are also losing ground, from Turin (-4.1%), through to Bergamo (-4.2%), Genoa (-6.2%) and finally Parma (-5.8%). This geographical pattern not only reflects the varying ability of households to save and diversify their finances, but also suggests, in the case of struggling industrial areas, an erosion of liquid assets.