CSO notes soaring household savings

• Date: 19 December 2020
• Published date: 19 December 2020
• Author: Colin Gleeson

The report, Quarterly Institutional Sector Accounts Non-Financial, noted that the three months from July to September coincided with some earlier Covid-19 restrictions being lifted.

It saw a gross savings ratio - the proportion of gross disposable income that went unspent - of 21.4 per cent.

This compared to 14.5 per cent a year earlier and, despite being lower than in the second quarter, is considerably higher than the long-term average.

"More people went to work and more shops were open. Compared to the second quarter of the year, after seasonal effects are removed, the economy grew by 10 per cent and consumer spending rebounded by 22 per cent."

The CSO said a comparison with the third quarter of 2019 is also revealing. Before seasonal adjustments, spending was down but gross income was up. This produced higher household savings.

Household disposable income, meanwhile, was supported by Government intervention.

"This saving is for households collectively and does not show the wide range of economic changes individual households experienced in the period," noted the report.

The CSO said household disposable income was sustained in spite of the closures of many businesses due to Covid-19.

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