Euro domestic savings highest since 2021, but investment falls Reuters
By Leo Marchandon and Olivier Sorgho
(Reuters) – Household savings in the euro area rose to their highest level in three years while investment continued to decline in the first quarter of 2024, the European Union’s statistics office said on Thursday.
Europeans have long saved more than their US counterparts and the gap has recently widened, perhaps due to uncertainty from the war in Ukraine and the broader economic outlook.
The household savings rate, which measures savings as a share of disposable income, rose to 15.3% in the euro area in the first quarter, from 14.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023, data from Eurostat showed. That was still below the pandemic season high of 25.1% seen in the second half of 2020.
From Italy selling government bonds to households, to French talk of a pan-European savings product, governments across Europe are looking for ways to consolidate domestic wealth.
But while savings grew, domestic investment fell to 9.5% in the quarter, their slowest rate since early 2021, the data showed.
Euro zone inflation eased to 2.5% in June, while consumer confidence also improved.
