Your feedback can help us improve and enhance our services to the public. Tell us what matters to you in our online Customer Satisfaction Survey.
The Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) 2020 was published on 19 May 2022. Since the first publication of 2020 estimates, the Central Credit Register (CCR) has been retrospectively added to the 2018 data. As 2018 and 2020 estimates are now produced using the same methodology, comparisons can be made between them.
This publication was updated on 16 May 2023 to includes references to 2018 estimates.
Both the 2018 and 2020 data were revised on the 11 June 2025. This revision was due to the supplementing of survey data with administrative data from The Pension Authority relating to Personal Retirement Saving Accounts (PRSAs) and the re-calibration of weights. The content relating to HFCS 2020 including the text, graphs, tables infographic and press release do not reflect the revised data.
For the most up to date data please see Household Finance and Consumption Survey 2023 and HFCS PxStat.
In 2020, more than a half (53.1%) of households reported that their regular expenses in the 12-month period prior to their interview date were less than the household’s income. The corresponding figure for 2018 was 40.1%. An increased ability to save in 2020 is reflected in the increase in the median value of savings compared to 2018, as seen in the Assets chapter. See Figures 7.1 & 7.2.
| X-axis label | 2018 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Don't know | 1.4 | 1 |
| Expenses exceeded income | 13.2 | 7.6 |
| Expenses about the same as income | 45.3 | 38.3 |
| Expenses less than income | 40.1 | 53.1 |
The households who said that expenses were less than income were then asked to list their most important reasons for saving (households could list multiple reasons for saving). The most common reason for saving in both 2018 and 2020 was for the provision of unexpected events, increasing from 53.0% of households whose expenses were less than income in 2018 to 59.8% in 2020. In 2020, households were less likely to be saving for travel and holidays than in 2018 with the rate dropping from 42.1% to 31.5% in that time. This is most likely due to the COVID-19 related travel restrictions that were in place around the time of the survey in 2020. See Figure 7.2 and Table 7.1.
| X-axis label | 2018 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Provision for unexpected events | 53 | 59.8 |
| Travels/holidays | 42.1 | 31.5 |
| Old-age provision | 40.6 | 38.1 |
| Education/support of children or grandchildren or other relatives | 34.8 | 31.1 |
| Other major purchases (other residences, vehicles, furniture, etc.) | 18.6 | 20.6 |
| Purchase own home | 16.3 | 18.1 |
| Paying off debts | 13.2 | 9.8 |
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.