2024-07-04 16:09:47
Household savings in the euro area, expressed as a ratio of gross disposable income, amounted to 15.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024, while in the previous quarter the indicator was at the level of 14.1 percent.
This represents the highest level of household savings since the second quarter of 2021, the European statistics agency Eurostat said on its official website.
The increase in the level of household savings in the euro area is explained by the growth at a more significant rate in gross disposable income (+2.1 percent) than in consumption (+0.8 percent).
At the same time, the level of household investment in the euro area fell slightly, from 9.6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to 9.5 percent in the first quarter of 2024. This is the lowest since the first quarter of 2021. the Eurostat data reveal more.
Gross fixed capital formation increased by 1.1 percent, at a slower pace than growth in gross disposable income (+2.1 percent).
In the first quarter, the share of business profit distribution in the non-financial enterprise sector in the euro area fell to 39.5 percent, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2020. In the previous, fourth quarter, business profit distribution reached 40.3 percent.
This was due to growth in gross business value added in the euro area (+0.1 per cent) at a slower pace than employee compensation (+1.4 per cent).
The rate of business investment in the euro area increased slightly, from 22 percent in the previous quarter to 22.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024.
The reason for this is the increase in the gross formation of fixed capital by 1.3 percent – a more significant rate than the gross added value (+0.1 percent).