Eurozone, household savings shrink in the third quarter of 2024

Brussels – In the Eurozone, household wealth is shrinking. In the third quarter of 2024, the savings rate stood at 15.3 percent, which is 0.3 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter. The figure “is explained by consumption rising by 1.1 percent, at a faster rate than gross disposable income (+0.7 percent),” Eurostat said in data released today (Jan. 13).

However, the European Statistical Office does not explain what eurozone citizens spent some of their savings on. The household savings rate in the July-September 2024 period, while decreasing, returns to the same level as in January-March 2024, thus registering some general stability. Based on the available data, the household investment rate dropped (from 9.2 percent to 9.1 percent) in the third quarter of the year that just ended.

The situation is different for businesses, whose profits instead increased slightly (from 38.7 percent to 38.8 percent). This, Eurostat continues, can be explained by the increase of business compensation of employees (wages and social contributions) plus taxes less subsidies on production by 1.2%, at a slightly lower rate than gross value added (+1.4%).