Household savings fall to 4.4% of disposable income

  • ECO News
  • 21 September 2018

The household savings rate fell to 4.4% of the disposable income in the second quarter of 2018, down 0.2 percentage points in comparison to the previous quarter, INE said this Friday.

The Portuguese households are saving less, according to the report released this Friday by the National Statistics Office (INE).

According to INE, “household final consumption expenditure increased more than disposable income, which led to a reduction of the savings rate to 4.4%.”

The increase in disposable income was 0.7%, while consumption expenditure grew by 0.9%.

The increase in disposable income of households was due to the 1% increase in wages, up from 0.9% in the previous quarter.

The positive balance of property income, however, fell by 2.2%, contributing to the deceleration of disposable income.

“Property income received and paid showed rates of change of -1.8% and 3.8%, respectively,” according to the official statistics office.

Household financing capacity was 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2018, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, mainly due to a 4.7% decrease in current savings.

Source: Lusa