Money is leaking out of banks in southern Europe as customersscoop deposits out of Greece, Spain and Italy to move cash to lessindebted nations such as Germany.

Greece's total deposits plunged 28 percent from the peak in June2009 to 169 billion euros ($225 billion) at the end of December,according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Spain, deposits slid 5percent in the five months through November to 934 billion euros,the least since April 2008. Italian banks held 974 billion euros inNovember, the lowest in 18 months.

Deposits in Germany have climbed by almost 10 percent since May2010, when Greece was granted its first bailout. Deposits haverisen every month except five since the end of 2009, and reached2.15 trillion euros at the end of 2011, Bloomberg data show. Thedeteriorating growth outlook in the euro region risks exacerbatingthose flows, according to Dario Perkins, an economist at LombardStreet Research in London.