2025 Regional "Wealth Rankings": Beijing's per capita savings are 356,000 yuan, Shanghai's are 290,000 yuan.

Ask AI · Why do Beijing and Shanghai lead the country in per capita deposits compared to other regions?

As the financial data for 2025 settles, a clear picture of China’s regional “funding map” emerges.

Guangdong, with nearly 39 trillion yuan in deposits, firmly holds the top position in the country, showcasing its powerful capital accumulation capability as the largest economic province; Jiangsu, Beijing, Zhejiang, and Shanghai form a “20 trillion” tier together.

In terms of household deposits, a key indicator of “wealth for the people,” Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong residents are the wealthiest, while Beijing and Shanghai demonstrate a stark lead in per capita household deposit scale, showcasing the unique wealth effect of super-first-tier cities. Notably, despite the already high per capita deposit base, the incremental growth in Beijing and Shanghai in 2025 continues to lead the nation, further widening the gap with other provinces and cities.

Meanwhile, the differentiation in deposit structure between regions is apparent, with households in Northeast and some Central and Western provinces having a deposit share as high as 70%, reflecting typical characteristics of a savings-oriented society; in contrast, the share in Beijing and Shanghai is less than 30%, reflecting the active asset allocation and diversified investment concepts in financial centers.

Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Beijing remain “funding highlands”

According to data from the central bank’s provincial branches, as of the end of December 2025, Guangdong leads the nation with nearly 39 trillion yuan in deposits, reaching 38.72 trillion yuan, about 10 trillion yuan higher than Jiangsu province, which ranks second, demonstrating its strong capital accumulation capability as the largest economic province, with Guangdong’s total economic output having ranked first in the country for 36 consecutive years.

Jiangsu, Beijing, Zhejiang, and Shanghai form the “20 trillion” tier, with respective deposit balances of 27.9 trillion yuan, 27.11 trillion yuan, 24.63 trillion yuan, and 24.5 trillion yuan; all four provinces and cities are developed regions, particularly as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai continue to enhance their comprehensive competitiveness in the Yangtze River Delta.

Shandong, Sichuan, Hebei, Henan, and Hubei constitute the “10 trillion” tier, with respective deposit balances of 18.96 trillion yuan, 14.63 trillion yuan, 13.26 trillion yuan, 11.9 trillion yuan, and 10.18 trillion yuan. Other provinces (including autonomous regions and municipalities) are all below 10 trillion yuan.

In terms of deposit growth rates, Fujian and Shanghai are leading the nation with growth rates exceeding 11%, particularly Shanghai, where, with a massive deposit balance of nearly 25 trillion yuan, the deposit scale still shows double-digit growth, especially in foreign currency deposits. Data shows that at the end of last year, Shanghai’s RMB deposit balance reached 23.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%; the foreign currency deposit balance was 184.6 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%. Over the past year, Shanghai’s foreign currency deposits increased by 22.8 billion USD, with a year-on-year increase of 13.9 billion USD.

Xinjiang’s deposit growth rate ranks third at 9.65%. Over the past three years, Xinjiang’s year-end deposit balance growth has continued to accelerate, with rates of 6.9%, 8.6%, and 9.65%, marking a continuous enhancement of regional economic and social development resilience, with more funds flowing orderly into the financial system, injecting strong momentum into deposit growth.

Additionally, within the “20 trillion” tier, Jiangsu’s deposit balance as of the end of December increased by 9.52% year-on-year, Beijing by 7.60%, and Zhejiang by 7.33%. Meanwhile, Guangdong, despite its large scale, maintained a steady growth of 5.65% in deposit balances.

Some Central and Western provinces, such as Henan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Ningxia, Hebei, Anhui, and Hubei, also maintained deposit growth rates in the range of 8% to 9%, reflecting a trend of capital flowing towards core urban agglomerations in Central and Western regions.

Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong have “wealthy households”

Among the multi-dimensional deposit data, household deposit data is particularly noteworthy. Household deposits, usually referring to residents’ savings deposits, are one of the fundamental indicators measuring the level of “wealth for the people” in a region, closely related to regional economy, residents’ income, and savings willingness. Central bank data shows that as of the end of December 2025, the national household RMB and foreign currency deposit balance was 167 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.71%.

As of the end of last year, Guangdong led the nation with a household deposit scale of 15.12 trillion yuan, accounting for 9% of the national total, meaning that as of the end of last year, for every 100 yuan in resident deposits nationwide, 9 yuan was held in Guangdong. Jiangsu, Shandong, and Zhejiang followed closely, with household deposit scales exceeding 10 trillion yuan; all other provinces were below 10 trillion yuan.

In terms of household deposit growth rates, Tibet and Jiangxi had significantly higher growth rates than the national average, at 12.99% and 12.34%, respectively, showing that both regions are “accelerating.” Additionally, Jiangsu’s household deposits increased by 11.48% year-on-year at the end of last year.

Household deposits are an important component of domestic deposits among various types of deposits. Nationally, as of the end of December last year, household deposits accounted for about 50% of all deposits. In addition to household deposits, other types of deposits include non-financial enterprise deposits, government agency deposits, fiscal deposits, non-deposit financial institution deposits, and overseas deposits.

However, the proportion varies significantly between different regions; for instance, the proportion in economically significant provinces like Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang is comparable to the national average; the proportion of household deposits in Beijing and Shanghai is less than 30%; while in provinces like Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei, and Henan, the proportion of household deposits is as high as 70%.

Generally speaking, a low proportion of household deposits usually indicates that the funding structure in that region leans towards enterprises, institutions, and government, marking it as a regional financial center and a developed headquarters economy, while also reflecting a more diversified asset allocation among residents. A high proportion of household deposits indicates that household savings dominate the funding structure, showing clear characteristics of a savings-oriented society, with lower participation in financial markets; this may also relate to factors such as aging population and increased precautionary savings during economic transformation.

“The actual situation varies significantly in each region,” said Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Botong Consulting. For instance, in developed areas like Beijing and Shanghai, although residents have relatively high incomes, housing prices are also high, and consumption is high, leading to a lower proportion of household savings. At the same time, residents’ financial concepts are more active, tending to invest more funds in wealth management, funds, equity, and other diversified financial products, thereby diverting household savings.

“In contrast, in regions like Northeast China, the economic structure is relatively simple, housing prices are low, residents have a stronger sense of security, and coupled with a fixed savings mindset, they are willing to put more funds into savings, especially fixed deposits, resulting in a higher proportion of household deposits,” he said.

Beijing and Shanghai “hide wealth among the people”

In terms of per capita household deposits, if we estimate based on the national total population of 1,404.89 million, at the end of last year, it equated to an average deposit of 118,900 yuan.

However, there are significant differences among regions, with per capita household deposits in Beijing and Shanghai forming a “cliff-like” lead, reaching 356,200 yuan and 290,200 yuan, respectively, making them the “absolute affluent circles” of the nation.

Zhejiang, Liaoning, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi are the four provinces with per capita deposits exceeding 150,000 yuan, forming a “high savings second tier,” with respective values of 177,700 yuan, 160,500 yuan, 156,000 yuan, and 151,700 yuan. Among these, Liaoning, as a northeastern province, ranks fourth in per capita deposits nationwide, showing a high savings willingness, where deposits occupy a significant proportion of residents’ asset structures.

In contrast, per capita deposits in Hebei, Jilin, Hainan, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, and Shaanxi are around 120,000 yuan; while in Shandong, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, and Fujian, per capita deposits are around 100,000 to 110,000 yuan.

As three of China’s largest population provinces, Guangdong, Shandong, and Henan have relatively low per capita deposits due to the large denominator effect, with Shandong’s per capita household deposit at 119,000 yuan and Guangdong at 118,300 yuan, both approximately on par with the national average. Henan is at 86,100 yuan.

In terms of incremental growth of per capita deposits, Beijing and Shanghai not only have the highest per capita deposits but also rank among the top for incremental growth. By the end of 2025, per capita household deposits in Beijing and Shanghai increased by 24,700 yuan and 24,300 yuan, respectively, further reflecting the enhancement of the wealth effect among residents of super-first-tier cities.

Per capita household deposits in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu increased by about 16,000 yuan year-on-year; while Shandong, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hebei, Chongqing, Anhui, Guangdong, and Liaoning saw increases of around 10,000 yuan year-on-year.

At the beginning of the year, the market was hotly discussing the future of the massive deposit maturity wave, but so far, residents’ willingness to save has not shown a significant decline. This part of the funds is likely to remain in bank accounts. Guotai Junan Securities estimates that about 80% to 90% of maturing deposit funds will still be renewed in the banking system, with only about 10% to 20% flowing into asset management products.

At the same time, deposits left in bank accounts are continuously flowing from small and medium-sized banks to large banks. Analyst Liu Chengxiang from Kaiyuan Securities believes that first, after multiple rounds of adjustments to deposit benchmark rates, the interest rate spread between large banks and small and medium-sized banks has continued to narrow; second, due to obstacles in loan disbursement, small and medium-sized banks, especially rural commercial banks, have less motivation to compete for personal fixed deposits, with some rural commercial banks guiding maturing fixed deposits towards asset management products.

(This article is from Yicai)