Household real consumption drops in EU, eurozone

Per capita household consumption in the European Union (EU) dropped by almost three percent in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, the sharpest decline since records began in 1999, reported Xinhua quoting Eurostat on Tuesday.

This 2.9-percent decrease came hot on heels of a 0.2 percent drop in the previous quarter. The decrease in the eurozone was similar -- three percent in Q1 against 0.4 percent in the previous quarter.

The decrease coincided with the EU-wide introduction of COVID-19 containment measures in March 2020, Eurostat noted.

Meanwhile, in Q1, household real income per capita increased by 1.2 percent in the EU and 1.1 percent in the eurozone, after a decrease of 1.0 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2019.

According to Eurostat, household gross disposable income increased by 1.2 percent in the EU and 0.9 percent in the eurozone thanks to the reduction in current taxes and net social contributions.

Eurostat reported a significant 4.3-percentage-point increase in the household saving rate in both the EU and the eurozone. This increase was the highest in Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, and the lowest in Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

In the first quarter of 2020, the household investment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points in the eurozone and 0.3 percentage points in the EU, said Eurostat.