Savings: 43% of those under 35 are interested in the stock market

French savers, and especially people under 35, are once again interested in the stock market in 2023, after having somewhat shunned equity investments last year, according to a study by the AMF, the stock market watchdog. French, published Friday. Among the 2,386 people who responded to a questionnaire from the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), 32% said they were interested in investing in stocks, which is the highest percentage since the creation of this savings barometer and investment. In 2022, only 25% of respondents had shown interest in investing in stocks.

Interest in the stock market is even more marked among people under 35, 43% of whom are interested in stocks this year, or 13 percentage points more than in 2022. “After a sharp decline observed in 2022 , more savers in 2023 will consider investing in shares”, a “renewed interest” driven in particular “by those under 35 in 2023”, according to the AMF barometer.

However, these savers' knowledge of financial markets has not progressed as quickly as their interest. Only 11% of those surveyed correctly answered three questions on fundamental savings principles. They were 12% in 2022. And the rule according to which the more an investment yields, the more risky it is, is only known to 59% of French people surveyed, a proportion down compared to 2022 (69%).

However, four out of ten people consider themselves “knowledgeable” about “savings products and financial investments”. Among respondents, 15% were victims of a scam. Here too the phenomenon concerns people under 35 more strongly. These figures worry the president of the AMF, Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani. Quoted in a press release from the stock market watchdog, she “particularly warns young people against the information and offers circulating on social networks, sometimes relayed by influencers”.