Czechs savers are showing a growing interest in pensions, with 50 per cent of those who are investing doing so to help secure their retirement income, research from the Capital Market Association of the Czech Republic (AKAT ČR) has revealed.

The research showed that whilst a current account is still the most common financial or investment product, owned by nearly 100 per cent of the Czech population, interest in other products has increased slightly year-on-year.

This included pension savings, which remained the third most popular financial product, with 41 per cent of investors saving in this form.

Interest in investing has also grown more broadly, as whilst 39 per cent of the population of the Czech Republic considered themselves investors in the survey in 2024, this has since risen to 41 per cent, mirroring the developing interest in pensions.

"The fact that Czechs are increasingly aware of the need to secure themselves financially for old age can be seen as a positive trend: compared to last year, when 43 per cent of respondents cited securing a pension as the main reason for investing, this year it is already 50 per cent," AKAT ČR executive director, Jana Brodani, said.

"We can probably count on a similar development next year, because the survey showed that in 2025, pension savings could reach up to 45 per cent of the share among investment and financial products."

Savings in pension funds was still the most common way of saving for retirement, however, with 63 per cent opting for this route, whilst less than a third (30 per cent) are putting cash away in a savings account or term deposit, and 25 per cent are investing in funds or shares.

Other forms of retirement savings have remained even less popular, with long-term investment products (DIP) (8 per cent) or long-term care insurance (2 per cent), ranking lowest.

However, Brodani noted that the DIP is a "relative novelty" on the Czech market, suggesting that its popularity as a way of saving for old age is still growing slowly.

Despite this, the AKAT ČR pointed out that whilst the volume of money that people invest in pension savings has increased slightly year-on-year, from 6 per cent of invested money in 2024 to 7 per cent this year, this remains low in comparison to other products.

This was primarily driven by low satisfaction with the return on pension products, as the research found that Czechs are widely disappointed not only with current accounts or building savings, but also with supplementary pension insurance.

In contrast, investor satisfaction was much higher with investments such as cryptocurrencies, stocks, government bonds, real estate or gold, which the AKAT ČR said was a natural reaction to the high returns seen in these areas last year.

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