Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: savings

  • Impact of COVID-19 on household consumption and savings in EU

    Impact of COVID-19 on household consumption and savings in EU

    Eurostat shows that the household saving rate in the EU recorded its all-time highest year-over-year increase in the first quarter of 2020 (+3.5 percentage points (pp) compared with the first quarter of 2019).

    The main reason is the marked year-over-year decrease of household final consumption expenditure (-1.7%), in stark contrast with its recent increases above 2%.

    Additionally, the increase of household gross disposable income (+2.4%) also contributed to the increase of the saving rate.

    The household saving rate has increased in all EU Member States for which data are available for the first quarter of 2020. Among the EU Member States, the highest year-over-year increase was observed in Slovenia (+7.7 pp), followed by Poland (+6.8 pp) and Spain (+6.7 pp).

    In contrast, the lowest increase was recorded in Sweden (+1.1 pp), Czechia (+2.0 pp) and Germany (+2.2 pp).

    The largest decreases of household expenditure were observed in Italy (-6.4%), Slovenia (-5.3%) and Spain (-5.2%).

    On the other hand, in six EU Member States, the household individual consumption expenditure increased when compared with 2019Q1, the largest increases in Poland (+5.1%) and Czechia (+4.0%).

  • Household saving rate all time high at 16.9% in the euro area

    Household saving rate all time high at 16.9% in the euro area

    The household saving rate in the euro area was at 16.9% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 12.7% in the fourth quarter of 2019.

    This was the highest increase since the beginning of the series in 1999.

    The household investment rate in the euro area was 8.7% in the first quarter of 2020, lower than the rate of 9.1% during the previous quarter.

    These data come from a first release of seasonally adjusted quarterly European sector accounts from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB).

    The quarterly increase of the household saving rate of 4.2 percentage points is related to 0.9% increase of gross disposable income and 4.0% decline in individual consumption expenditure of households.

    The quarterly decline of 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter is explained by 3.2% decline in gross fixed capital formation and 0.9% increase of gross disposable income.