Euro area household saving rate falls to 14.2 per cent in second quarter

The household saving rate across the euro area decreased to 14.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, down from 14.4 per cent in the first quarter, according to Eurostat. The statistical office of the European Union explained in its first release of seasonally adjusted quarterly European sector accounts that the decline was driven by household consumption increasing at a faster pace than gross disposable income. Household consumption grew by 1.3 per cent during the period, whilst gross disposable income rose at a slower rate of 1.1 per cent. Simultaneously, the household investment rate in the single currency bloc eased from 8.4 per cent to 8.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2026. This reduction occurred because gross fixed capital formation grew by just 0.5 per cent, lagging behind the 1.1 per cent gain in gross disposable income. In contrast to households, the profit share of non-financial businesses in the euro area increased from 38.4 per cent to 39.0 per cent during the second quarter of 2026. Eurostat noted that this corporate expansion developed as business compensation of employees, which includes wages and employers’ social contributions, alongside taxes less subsidies on production, grew by 1.0 per cent, trailing the 2.0 per cent growth in gross value added. The business investment rate across the euro area also expanded from 22.5 per cent to 22.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2026. The rise in corporate investment was propelled by business gross fixed capital formation increasing by 2.9 per cent, outstripping the 2.0 per cent advance in gross value added. Eurostat added that earlier historical peaks observed in the second quarter of 2019, fourth quarter of 2019, and first quarter of 2020 were tied to large imports of intellectual property products reflecting broader globalisational effects.