New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that households saved 13.8% of their disposable income in the fourth quarter of 2024, down from 14.8% in the third quarter of the year.
The country’s household saving rate has averaged around 13.8% since the start of 2023.
The CSO said that while Irish households returned to the same levels of saving before the Covid-19 pandemic, households in many other European countries are now saving a higher proportion of their income than before the pandemic.
The Euro area saving rate for 2023 and 2024 is around 14.7%, up from 12.7% in 2018-2019.
The CSO noted that Germany, which is the largest economy in Europe with the greatest number of household savers, had a saving rate of 19.6% in 2024, up from 18% in 2018-2019.
After adjustments for seasonal patterns, Irish household consumption and incomes both rose in the fourth quarter of last year, and the faster rise in consumption led to a lower saving rate during that time, the CSO said.
