Financial position of euro area households in 2018

Abstract

Drawing on the accounts for the institutional sectors, this article describes how euro area households’ income, savings, borrowing and financial wealth evolved in 2018. The improvement in the labour market and the more dynamic wage performance continued to boost household income and this, together with the increase in asset (especially housing) values, and against a backdrop of very low interest rates, sustained household expenditure. The saving rate rose slightly in the euro area overall, although with considerable differences between countries. Households’ demand for finance continued to grow at a moderate pace, resulting in a slight dip in their debtto-income ratio.