The European Central Bank published euro area sector accounts for the first quarter of 2026 showing faster household financial investment growth and steady financing conditions for non-financial corporations, alongside weaker corporate profitability. Household financial investment rose 2.8% year on year, up from 2.6% in the previous quarter, while non-financial corporation financing grew at an unchanged 1.5% annual rate. At the same time, non-financial corporations’ gross operating surplus fell 0.8% after rising 5.2% in the prior quarter. For households, gross disposable income growth slowed to 3.0% from 3.3%, consumption expenditure growth held at 3.6%, and the gross saving rate edged down to 14.5% from 14.7%. Gross non-financial investment, mainly housing, slowed to 4.3% from 6.7%, while loans to households grew at a broadly unchanged 2.9%. The pickup in financial investment was driven mainly by pension schemes, which rose 5.1% after 2.6%, and debt securities, which increased 3.8% after 3.1%. Household net worth growth slowed to 3.9% from 4.9%, mainly because growth in housing wealth eased to 3.3% from 4.6%, while the debt-to-income ratio was broadly unchanged at 81.0%. For non-financial corporations, net value added growth slowed to 1.4% from 4.6%, gross entrepreneurial income increased 0.7% after 4.9%, and gross non-financial investment rose 1.1% after 1.8%. Financial investment grew at an unchanged 2.2%, with faster growth in loans granted at 2.7% and broadly stable growth in shares and other equity at 0.9%. Within financing, loan financing and equity financing were broadly unchanged at 2.6% and 0.6% respectively, while net issuance of debt securities accelerated to 3.7% and trade credit financing to 4.6%. The release also incorporates revisions back to the first quarter of 2022 and now includes Bulgaria in euro area aggregates covering all 21 euro area members.

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