Household saving rate up to 14.6% in the euro area

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

Compared with data released on 26 January 2024, the household saving rate for the third quarter of 2023 was revised downwards from 14.0% to 13.9%. The household investment rate was revised upwards from 9.7% to 9.8%. The profit share of non-financial corporations for the third quarter of 2023 was revised upwards from 40.2% to 40.5%. The investment rate of non-financial corporations was revised downwards from 22.9% to 22.6%.

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 fourth quarter of 2023, focussing on data for household real income and consumption per capita for both the euro area and the EU, will be published on 26 April 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.