How Household Savings Stack Up in Asia, the West, and Latin America

China: 38%

China has one of the highest savings rates in the world, partly because there is no national safety net

India: 34.7%

India's savings rate has been building along with the acceleration of its GDP growth

Turkey: 19.5%

Turkish savings, high by U.S. standards, are not enough for a developing country

Switzerland: 14.3%

The Swiss vie with Swedes and Austrians to be the top savers in the West

Ireland: 12.3%

The Irish savings rate quadrupled over two years in response to the financial crisis

Germany: 11.7%

Despite deep fiscal problems on a national level, personal savings on the Continent stay high

Britain: 7%

British savings have declined sharply since the early 1990s

Brazil: 6.8%

Latin American economies generally have low savings rates

U.S.: 3.9%

U.S. savings are up from a 1.7% low but far below a postwar average of 7% or so

Japan: 2.8%

The savings decline in Japan from 15% in 1992 is the most dramatic in the industrialized world

Austraila: 2.5%

The Australians, like the Americans, have had a huge housing boom compensating for the loss in savings

Data: OECD, World Bank, Standard Chartered, Turkish State Planning Office, British Office for National Statistics