European Central Bank publishes revised euro area sector accounts showing net saving at EUR 820 billion and falling debt ratios

The European Central Bank published a second release of quarterly euro area sector accounts for the third quarter of 2024, incorporating revisions, showing higher net saving and an increase in net lending to the rest of the world alongside lower household and non-financial corporate debt ratios. Euro area net saving rose to EUR 820 billion (6.8% of net disposable income) in the four quarters up to the third quarter of 2024, while net non-financial investment was broadly unchanged at EUR 440 billion (3.7%), lifting net lending to the rest of the world to EUR 418 billion from EUR 405 billion. Household net lending increased to EUR 581 billion, while net lending of non-financial corporations (NFCs) fell to EUR 192 billion and that of financial corporations was broadly unchanged at EUR 132 billion; general government net borrowing became less negative at -4.0% of net disposable income. The household debt-to-income ratio declined to 82.5% from 86.2% a year earlier, and the consolidated NFC debt-to-GDP ratio fell to 67.4% from 69.1% (with the non-consolidated measure down to 138.4% from 141.3%). The release incorporates completed sector data relative to the first release and revisions back to the first quarter of 1999, including the impact of the EU benchmark revision 2024; the ECB also flagged a tentative 28 February 2025 publication date for experimental Distributional Wealth Accounts for the household sector for the third quarter of 2024.