At 2¾% to 3% of disposable income in the period from 2002 to 2005, the overall net investment ratio was very low compared to the first half of the 1990s, when it was between 9% and 12 %. And in the second half of the 1990s it was at roughly 8%.
In other countries, too – above all, in parts of Asia – the rather subdued investment, along with a high level of savings, has led to the creation of a saving surplus that was available for investment in the international capital markets.