Cash and deposits are 32.36% of Singapore household financial assets — CPF alone is 31.21%
Household financial assets reached S$2,207.1 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Currency and deposits are 32.36% of that, down from 36.88% at the end of 2015, while shares and securities rose from 17.59% to 20.19%.
How much of Singapore household wealth sits in deposits?
About a third of the financial side. Household financial assets were S$2,207,093.8 million at the end of the second quarter of 2026, of which currency and deposits were S$714,185.5 million — 32.36% (SingStat).
How much of Singapore household wealth sits in deposits?
Currency & deposits
Shared linear scale from zero. Selected entries from the table below. Its dates, units, definitions and limitations still apply.
| End of period | Currency & deposits | Shares & securities | Life insurance, CPF & pension | Financial assets (S$ m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2000 | 35.75% | 23.26% | 41.00% | 324,467.0 |
| December 2005 | 30.83% | 25.42% | 43.75% | 479,638.9 |
| December 2010 | 34.89% | 22.43% | 42.68% | 716,733.4 |
| December 2015 | 36.88% | 17.59% | 45.53% | 1,003,662.9 |
| December 2019 | 35.19% | 16.05% | 48.77% | 1,352,547.9 |
| December 2024 | 33.90% | 18.97% | 47.12% | 1,941,342.5 |
| December 2025 | 33.18% | 19.61% | 47.21% | 2,117,509.7 |
| 2026 Q2 | 32.36% | 20.19% | 47.45% | 2,207,093.8 |
Singapore does not look like the textbook picture of an Asian saver, and the reason is in the third column.
The biggest block is not the bank account
CPF balances alone were 31.21% of household financial assets in the second quarter of 2026 — S$688,863.6 million, within a hair of the entire currency-and-deposits line. Add life insurance (S$341,006.1 million) and other pension funds (S$17,387.5 million) and the insurance-and-pension block reaches 47.45%, comfortably the largest of the three.
That is a statutory result rather than a behavioural one. CPF contributions are mandatory, so a large part of the household balance sheet is assembled by rule rather than by choice, and it sits outside the banking system in the statistics. Any comparison that treats Singapore’s deposit share as a measure of how cautious households are has to account for that first.
This series is quarterly from 1995 Q1 and was last updated on 25 August 2026. The three components above sum to 100% of financial assets: SingStat publishes no separate debt-securities line, and unit trusts and investment funds are inside "Shares & Securities" together with listed and unlisted shares. Residential property is reported outside financial assets — S$1,619,016.4 million in 2026 Q2, against liabilities of S$422,758.0 million, for household net worth of S$3,403,352.2 million. Comparisons with Japan and Taiwan below are on different sector definitions and different reference dates.
Falling share, rising amount
The share fell; the amount did not. Currency and deposits went from S$370,168.5 million at the end of 2015 to S$714,185.5 million in 2026 Q2 — close to double. Financial assets as a whole grew faster, from S$1,003,662.9 million to S$2,207,093.8 million.
The 2000–2005 stretch is worth noting for the opposite reason. The deposit share fell to 30.83% by the end of 2005, lower than anything since, and then rose again through the 2008–2015 period. This is not a one-way trend line, and the decline since 2019 is not long enough to make it one.
Only three Asian markets publish this at all
Of the nine markets compared across this series, only Japan, Taiwan and Singapore compile a household financial balance sheet.
| Market | Reference | Currency & deposits | Debt securities | Equity & funds | Insurance & pension | Other | Sector definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | end-March 2026 | 47.22% | 1.52% | 23.63% | 24.48% | 3.15% | households incl. unincorporated business |
| Taiwan | end-2024 | 34.78% | 0.25% | 26.10% | 26.12% | 12.74% | households & non-profit institutions |
| Singapore | 2026 Q2 | 32.36% | — | 20.19% | 47.45% | — | households |
| Korea | 2025 Q2 | 45.23% | 3.25% | 22.52% | 28.18% | 0.83% | households & NPISH |
| United States | end-March 2026 | 10.7% | 4.3% | 56.7% | 25.7% | 2.5% | households & nonprofits (BOJ basis) |
| Euro area | end-March 2026 | 31.1% | 2.8% | 37.6% | 26.5% | 2.0% | households & NPISH (BOJ basis) |
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam have no row here. Hong Kong and Vietnam compile no flow-of-funds accounts at all; Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia compile transactions accounts with no balance-sheet table. Malaysia publishes a total — RM3,665.0 billion at the end of 2025 — but no instrument breakdown.
For Japan, the United States and the euro area the equity-and-funds column adds the "equity" and "investment trusts" lines of the same Bank of Japan comparison table. That is a sum of published items from one table and one vintage, not an estimate. Singapore's blanks are structural: those categories are not separately published, not zero.
The spread between markets tracks pension design more than it tracks temperament. Where retirement saving is a mandatory account invested in securities, it shows up outside deposits; where it is not, deposits carry more of the load. Singapore's CPF, Malaysia's EPF and Hong Kong's MPF all push in the same direction, which is why Singapore's insurance-and-pension share is the highest in this table. This paragraph is interpretation; the figures in the tables are observations from published statistics.
What to check when reading these numbers
Start with the denominator. Singapore’s financial assets exclude residential property, which is reported on its own line and is larger than any single financial component. A “share of household wealth” and a “share of household financial assets” are different numbers.
Then check stock against flow. Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia all publish something called flow-of-funds accounts, and none of them contains a balance sheet. How much was added to deposits in a year and how much is held in deposits are separate questions.
Then check the vintage. Japan’s flow of funds is revised retroactively every year and Taiwan’s was revised in the 2024 edition, so figures from different releases should not be joined into one series.
Finally, do not read a deposit share as a verdict. It is the distribution of where assets sit. It is not a return, not a measure of inflation, and not by itself evidence of caution.
Questions & answers
How much do Singapore households hold in financial assets?
S$2,207,093.8 million at the end of the second quarter of 2026, up from S$1,003,662.9 million at the end of 2015 (SingStat). Residential property assets are counted separately and were S$1,619,016.4 million in the same quarter.
What share of that is cash and deposits?
32.36%, or S$714,185.5 million. The share was 36.88% at the end of 2015 and 35.19% at the end of 2019, so it has fallen by about four and a half percentage points over eleven years while the amount itself nearly doubled.
What is the largest single component?
CPF balances, at 31.21% of household financial assets in the second quarter of 2026. Adding life insurance and other pension funds brings the insurance-and-pension block to 47.45%, larger than currency and deposits.
How does Singapore compare with Japan and Taiwan?
Japan was 47.22% in currency and deposits at the end of March 2026 and Taiwan 34.78% at the end of 2024. The three are on different reference dates and different sector definitions, so these are three separate readings rather than a ranking on one day.