According to Spain’s “20 Minutes” report, Spain is not only a large economy in the European Union, but also the country with the lowest proportion of household savings income and the largest decline in savings in 2022, falling below the level before the COVID-19 epidemic. At the same time, the growth of household expenditure in this Iberian country is higher than the European average, and the decline of household income is the largest among the four major EU economies.
According to data released by Eurostat this week, in 2022, Spanish households saved 7.6% of their income, while the average savings rate in the whole EU was 12.7%. Spain’s savings ratio is far from that of large European economies. For example, the percentage of savings income of French and German households is more than twice that of Spanish households.
Compared with 2020, Spain’s savings rate in 2022 decreased by 56.4%. According to Eurostat data, this is the fourth largest decline in continental Europe, after Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Compared with other large European economies, Spain’s savings behavior is obviously more volatile. In Italy, this figure has also returned to the level during the epidemic. In Germany and France, savings have fallen by just over 16% in the past two years.
In 2022, not only will savings decrease, but income will also decrease. According to the data of Eurostat, the real income of European families decreased by 0.8% on average last year after deducting the influence of taxes, social contributions and inflation, and the disposable income of Spanish families decreased by 2.8%, making it the fifth EU country with the most serious decline in family income, after Estonia, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Latvia. Italy’s decline was more moderate (-1.38%), while France (-0.4%) and Germany (-0.6%) were above average.
Compared with 2021, the average price of Spain increased by 8.4% in 2022, which is an unprecedented increase. Among them, food and energy increased particularly, rising by 15.5% and 11.6% respectively. The escalation of inflation has led to an increase in household expenditure. In 2022, the total household consumption in Spain was equivalent to 793.6 billion euros, an increase of 15.1% over the previous year. According to the data of Eurostat, the growth rate of household expenditure is higher than the European average (12.3%), and the growth rates of the other three major economies are 8.2% in France, 9.8% in Germany and 13.8% in Italy.
Excluding the impact of inflation, household expenditure in Spain increased by 8.1% in 2022, while that in the EU increased by 4.7%, which was mainly driven by the recovery of leisure and catering industry. Specifically, compared with 2021, the amount allocated to hotels and restaurants increased by 33.1%, and the expenditure on culture and entertainment increased by 34%.
According to a study published by economists, Spanish families are readjusting their savings in the face of the new situation. Experts point out that the “strongest” reorganization of savings occurs in deposits, which are usually the main destinations of household savings. Specifically, there is an “important transfer” from demand deposits to time deposits, because the latter enjoys higher remuneration. In addition, in recent months, families have also chosen investment funds and directly purchased fixed-income securities such as treasury bills in a “significant way”, which has caused a craze among depositors.
Post time: Dec-01-2023