Household saving rate up to 15.7% in the euro area

Announcement

Following recommendations for a harmonised European revision policy for national accounts and balance of payments, EU countries will carry out a benchmark revision of their national accounts estimates in 2024. The purpose of this benchmark revision is to implement changes introduced by the amended ESA 2010 regulation, and to incorporate new data sources and other methodological improvements. Most of the revised quarterly and annual country data are expected to be released by Eurostat between June and October 2024, and will be progressively integrated in European estimates. The impact of these revisions is expected to be limited, but still noticeable for some European aggregates and more pronounced for certain Member States. For further details, please consult the available documentation on Eurostat’s website.

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

Compared with data released on 26 July 2024, the household saving rate for the first quarter of 2024 was revised downwards from 15.4% to 15.2%. The household investment rate was also revised downwards 9.5% to 9.3%. The profit share of non-financial corporations for the first quarter of 2024 was revised downwards from 39.5% to 39.1%. The investment rate of non-financial corporations was revised upwards from 22.2% to 22.3%.

The euro area estimates published today include benchmark revisions from Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.

Around 94 days after the end of the quarter, Eurostat publishes the first news release and a subset of quarterly key indicators in its website. Around 120 days after the end of the quarter, Eurostat publishes the final release and detailed annual and quarterly sector accounts of Member States of the European Economic Area and derived key indicators, including annual indicators such as debt-to-income ratios. The final news release for the second quarter of 2024, focusing on data for household real income and consumption per capita for both the euro area and the EU, will be published on 29 October 2024.

Methods and definitions

The gross saving rate of households (household saving rate) is defined as gross saving divided by gross disposable income, with the latter including the change in the net equity of households in pension funds reserves. Gross saving is the part of the gross disposable income which is not spent as final consumption expenditure. Therefore, the saving rate increases when gross disposable income grows at a higher rate than final consumption expenditure.

The gross investment rate of households (household investment rate) is defined as gross fixed capital formation divided by gross disposable income, with the latter being adjusted for the change in the net equity of households in pension funds reserves. Household investment mainly consists of the purchase and renovation of dwellings.

The gross investment rate of non-financial corporations is defined as gross fixed capital formation divided by gross value added. This ratio relates the investment of non-financial businesses in fixed assets (buildings, machinery etc.) to the value added created during the production process.

The profit share of non-financial corporations is defined as gross operating surplus divided by gross value added. This profitability-type indicator shows the share of the value added created during the production process remunerating capital. It is the complement of the share of wage costs (plus other taxes less other subsidies on production) in value added.

The compilation of the European sector accounts follows the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) and covers the period from the first quarter of 1999 onwards. The data comes from a first release of seasonally adjusted quarterly European sector accounts released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB).

Institutional sectors bring together economic units with broadly similar characteristics and behaviour, namely: households (including non-profit institutions serving households), non-financial corporations, financial corporations, government and the rest of the world. In the latter, to measure the external transactions of the euro area / European Union (EU), it is necessary to remove cross-border flows within the area concerned.

Geographical information

The euro area (EA20) consists of 20 Member States: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland, plus the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism and the European Financial Stability Facility.