In the first quarter of the year, real household incomes per capita in the euro area remained unchanged compared to the previous quarter after growing by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, BTA reported.
Real household consumption per capita also remained unchanged, after increasing by 0.5 percent in the previous quarter. This is revealed by the latest seasonally adjusted data from the European statistical agency Eurostat, published today on the institution's website.
For the European Union as a whole, real household income per person increased by 0.1 percent in the first three months of the year after growing by 0.2 percent in the period October-December 2025.
At the same time, real household consumption per capita decreased by 0.2 percent after growing by 0.5 percent in the previous quarter.
Components of household disposable income
In the first quarter of 2026, household disposable income in the euro area and the slight increase in the EU are mainly explained by the positive contribution of compensation of employees and social benefits other than social transfers in kind.
In the euro area, the strongest negative contribution was net property income and other net current transfers. In the EU as a whole, the largest negative impact was on current taxes and net social contributions.
Household saving ratio unchanged in the euro area and rising in the EU
In the first quarter, the household saving ratio remained unchanged in the currency area and increased by 0.2 percentage points (pp) in the EU compared with the previous quarter.
The saving ratio is defined as the ratio of gross savings to gross disposable household income.
Among the EU countries for which data are available, the household saving rate increased in seven Member States and decreased in nine others. Hungary recorded the largest increase (+3.4 pp), followed by Denmark (+0.6 pp) and the Netherlands (+0.4 pp). At the same time, the largest declines were observed in Romania (-5.3 pp), Greece (-3.7 pp) and Austria (-2.5 pp).
Household investment decreases slightly in both the EU and the euro area
In the first quarter of 2026, the level of household investment decreased by 0.1 pp in both the euro area and the EU, compared to the previous, fourth quarter of last year.
Among the Member States for which data are published, the level of household investment increased in four countries, remained unchanged in one and decreased in the remaining eleven. Romania has the largest increase (+2.2 pps), followed by Austria (+0.2 pps) and the Netherlands and Belgium (+0.1 pps for both), while the largest decreases are observed in Greece (-0.7 pps), Finland, Italy, France and Hungary (-0.2 pps for all four).