The household savings rate shoots up to 16.1% in the second quarter, the highest in a year

In seasonally adjusted terms, the savings rate of Spanish families marks a minimum since the last quarter of 2019

MADRID, 30 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Spanish households placed their savings rate in the second quarter at 16.1% of their disposable income, in contrast to the negative rate that was registered in the first quarter of the year for the first time in three years, as reported this Friday the National Statistics Institute (INE).

This rate of 16.1% is the highest since the second quarter of 2021, when it stood at 21.1%, which in turn means that, in a year-on-year comparison, the household savings rate has fallen five points compared to the same quarter last year.

In the second quarter, households spent less than they received. Thus, its disposable income increased by 5.2% year-on-year, to 223,727 million euros, while its consumer spending totaled 187,534 million euros, 12% more. In addition, they increased their investment by 75.3%, to 14,129 million euros.

As a result of all this, households saved more than 36,000 million euros in the second quarter, below the savings of 44,891 million euros in the same period of 2021.

If seasonal and calendar effects are eliminated, the household savings rate reached 8.5% of their disposable income in the second quarter, a rate almost two points lower than that of the previous quarter and the lowest since the fourth quarter 2019, just before the pandemic was declared.

Households were able to finance the investment they made in the second quarter of the year with their savings, for which they showed a financing capacity of 21,114 million euros, the lowest figure in a second quarter since 2014. In the same period of 2021, the financing capacity of households was 35,841 million.