In the second quarter of 2026, the household savings rate in the euro area fell to 14.2 per cent from 14.4 per cent in the first quarter, according to a preliminary release of the quarterly sector accounts published by Eurostat. The decline is explained by consumption growing faster than gross disposable income, by 1.3 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.
During the same period, the household investment rate also fell, from 8.4 per cent to 8.3 per cent.
Conversely, the profit share of non-financial enterprises rose from 38.4 per cent to 39.0 per cent, as labour costs (wages and employers’ social security contributions) plus net taxes on production grew more slowly than gross value added, by 1.0 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively. The corporate investment rate rose from 22.5 per cent to 22.7 per cent, with gross fixed capital formation increasing more than value added, by 2.9 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively.
The figures, which confirm a deterioration in the economic situation of households – partly due to rising inflation (which reached 3.8 per cent in the euro area), therefore reveal a clear divergence between the two trends: while households are seeing their ability to save decline, businesses are seeing their margins increase.
