Since the end of the 1990s, emerging countries in Asia have increased their currency reserves significantly. Accordingly, they are contributing to a global savings glut. People in developed economies started to save more because of aging societies. And, over this period, real interest rates have also dropped.
Thus, the average real interest rates for the ten-year government bonds of important industrialised countries, including Germany, fell from the (around) 4% recorded at the middle/end of the 1990s to approximately 2% in the year 2007 11 – note that this was before the outbreak of the financial crisis. According to survey results, Germans are presently satisfied with their financial investments.