European Central Bank publishes revised euro area sector accounts with net saving at €838 billion and household debt-to-income ratio down to 82.1%

The European Central Bank, together with Eurostat, published a second release of quarterly euro area sector accounts for the fourth quarter of 2024, incorporating revisions and completed data for all sectors. It shows euro area net saving broadly unchanged at €838 billion in 2024 (6.9% of net disposable income), while net non-financial investment fell to €434 billion (3.6%), reflecting lower investment by households and non-financial corporations. Euro area net lending to the rest of the world was broadly unchanged at €431 billion, as the decline in net non-financial investment was broadly matched by lower net capital transfers. Households increased net lending to €579 billion, while non-financial corporations’ net lending declined to €173 billion and financial corporations’ net lending was unchanged at €147 billion; general government net borrowing improved to -€469 billion. Household leverage declined, with the debt-to-income ratio falling to 82.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 85.0% a year earlier, and the debt-to-GDP ratio falling to 51.5% from 52.8%; non-financial corporations’ consolidated debt-to-GDP ratio decreased to 67.2% from 68.7% (and the non-consolidated measure to 138.8% from 140.6%). The ECB also indicated that results for its experimental Distributional Wealth Accounts for the household sector for the fourth quarter of 2024 are planned for 30 May 2025 on a tentative basis.