Announcement
Following recommendations for a harmonised European revision policy for national accounts and balance of payments, EU countries will carry out a benchmark revision of their national accounts estimates in 2024. The purpose of this benchmark revision is to implement changes introduced by the amended ESA 2010 regulation, and to incorporate new data sources and other methodological improvements. Most of the revised quarterly and annual country data are expected to be released by Eurostat between June and October 2024, and will be progressively integrated in European estimates. The impact of these revisions is expected to be limited, but still noticeable for some European aggregates and more pronounced for certain Member States. For further details, please consult the available documentation on Eurostat’s website.
Overview
The household saving rate in the euro area was at 15.3% in the first quarter of 2024 (compared with 14.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023). It represents the highest saving rate since 2021Q2.
These data come from a first release of seasonally adjusted quarterly European sector accounts from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
At the same time, the household investment rate in the euro area slightly decreased from 9.6% to 9.5% in the first quarter of 2024. It is the lowest value since 2021Q1.
In the first quarter of 2024, the profit share of businesses (non-financial corporations) decreased from 40.3% to 39.5% in the euro area. It is the lowest value since 2020Q2.
The business investment rate in the euro area slightly increased from 22.0% to 22.3% in the first quarter of 2024. The peaks in 2017Q2, 2019Q2, 2019Q4 and 2020Q1 are related to large imports of intellectual property products reflecting globalisation effects.
Household saving rate and its components
The increase of households’ saving rate in the euro area is explained by gross disposable income increasing by 2.1%, at a faster rate than consumption (+0.8%).
Household investment rate and its components
Household’s investment rate slightly decreased in the euro area, as gross fixed capital formation increased by 1.1%, at a lower rate than gross disposable income (+2.1%).
Non-financial corporations profit share and its components
The decrease of business profit share in the euro area is explained by the increase of business compensation of employees (wages and social contributions) plus taxes less subsidies on production by 1.4%, at a faster rate than gross value added (+0.1%).
Non-financial corporations’ investment rate and its components
Business investment rate increased in the euro area as business gross fixed capital formation increased by 1.3%, at a faster rate than gross value added (+0.1%).
Table
|
Key indicators and growth rates of selected transactions of the euro area |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
||||||
|
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q1 |
|
|
12.7 |
12.6 |
12.9 |
13.6 |
13.6 |
13.3 |
14.1 |
15.3 |
|
|
10.5 |
10.3 |
10.2 |
10.1 |
9.8 |
9.8 |
9.6 |
9.5 |
|
|
2.1 |
2.9 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
1.3 |
2.1 |
|
|
3.9 |
3.0 |
1.6 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
0.4 |
0.8 |
|
|
2.7 |
1.1 |
0.5 |
1.2 |
-1.7 |
0.6 |
-0.5 |
1.1 |
|
|
41.0 |
41.4 |
41.3 |
41.2 |
41.0 |
40.5 |
40.3 |
39.5 |
|
|
22.6 |
23.0 |
22.2 |
22.7 |
22.3 |
22.0 |
22.0 |
22.3 |
|
|
2.3 |
2.1 |
2.1 |
2.4 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
0.9 |
0.1 |
|
|
2.5 |
1.3 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
1.6 |
1.5 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
|
|
1.8 |
3.6 |
-1.4 |
4.6 |
-0.4 |
-0.4 |
0.7 |
1.3 |
|
Notes for users
Revisions and timetable
Compared with data released on 26 April 2024, the household saving rate for the fourth quarter of 2023 was revised downwards from 14.7% to 14.1%. The household investment rate remained unrevised at 9.6%. The profit share of non-financial corporations for the fourth quarter of 2023 was revised downwards from 40.5% to 40.3%. The investment rate of non-financial corporations was revised downwards from 22.4% to 22.0%.
The euro area estimates published today include benchmark revisions from France and the Netherlands.
Around 94 days after the end of the quarter, Eurostat publishes the first news release and a subset of quarterly key indicators in its website. Around 120 days after the end of the quarter, Eurostat publishes the final release and detailed annual and quarterly sector accounts of Member States of the European Economic Area and derived key indicators, including annual indicators such as debt-to-income ratios. The final news release for the first quarter of 2024, focusing on data for household real income and consumption per capita for both the euro area and the EU, will be published on 26 July 2024.
Methods and definitions
The gross saving rate of households (household saving rate) is defined as gross saving divided by gross disposable income, with the latter including the change in the net equity of households in pension funds reserves. Gross saving is the part of the gross disposable income which is not spent as final consumption expenditure. Therefore, the saving rate increases when gross disposable income grows at a higher rate than final consumption expenditure.
The gross investment rate of households (household investment rate) is defined as gross fixed capital formation divided by gross disposable income, with the latter being adjusted for the change in the net equity of households in pension funds reserves. Household investment mainly consists of the purchase and renovation of dwellings. The gross investment rate of non-financial corporations is defined as gross fixed capital formation divided by gross value added. This ratio relates the investment of non-financial businesses in fixed assets (buildings, machinery etc.) to the value added created during the production process.
The profit share of non-financial corporations is defined as gross operating surplus divided by gross value added. This profitability-type indicator shows the share of the value added created during the production process remunerating capital. It is the complement of the share of wage costs (plus other taxes less other subsidies on production) in value added.
The compilation of the European sector accounts follows the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA2010) and covers the period from the first quarter of 1999 onwards. The data comes from a first release of seasonally adjusted quarterly European sector accounts released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB).
Institutional sectors bring together economic units with broadly similar characteristics and behaviour, namely: households (including non-profit institutions serving households), non-financial corporations, financial corporations, government and the rest of the world. In the latter, to measure the external transactions of the euro area / European Union (EU), it is necessary to remove cross-border flows within the area concerned.
Geographical information
The euro area (EA20) consists of 20 Member States: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland, plus the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism and the European Financial Stability Facility.
For more information
https%3A%2F%2Fec.europa.eu%2Feurostat%2Fproduct%3Fcode%3D2-04072024-ap
