In Quarter 3 (Q3) 2025, the seasonally adjusted household saving rate was 14.8%, or €1 in €7, of household disposable income.
This saving rate was up from 13.1% in Q2 2025, and above the average of 13.1% since the start of 2023.
After adjustments for seasonal patterns, Irish household consumption showed a small decrease (-0.2%) while incomes rose (+1.7%) in Q3 2025, leading to the higher saving rate.
Household saving was 14.8% in July, August and September (Q3) 2025, compared with a revised 13.1% in Q2 2025 (current price seasonally adjusted). As Figure 1 shows, this is higher than the average level since the start of 2023. As the ratio depends on two larger aggregates (Total Disposable Income and Final Consumption Expenditure), it is liable to change each quarter.
Household saving can be added to wealth as real assets (such as new homes), or financial assets (such as deposits), or as paying off liabilities (such as mortgage debt). In Q3 2025, before adjusting for seasonality or inflation, households saved €8.8bn. Investment in dwellings and improvements (most of which was by households) was €5.8bn. Additions to pension funds (D.8) were almost €1bn. A revised and more detailed household saving estimate from the non-financial accounts will be published by the CSO in the coming weeks. A quarterly breakdown of changes in financial assets and liabilities will be published by the Central Bank.
In Q3 2025 households spending on goods and services was €39.2bn, a decrease of 2.8% on the second quarter of 2025, before price or seasonal adjustments. When seasonal factors are taken into account, final consumption of households was relatively unchanged (-0.2%) in the third quarter of 2025. When the effect of price changes is also removed, the volume of consumption also remained flat (+0.2%). The changes in consumption before and after price and seasonal adjustment are shown in Figure 2.
"Household Consumption" and "Individual Consumption Expenditure" in this release both mean Final Consumption Expenditure (FCE) of Households (code P.3 in the European System of Accounts). This is less than the item "Personal Consumption Expenditure" in the Quarterly National Accounts, which includes both FCE of households and Purchased Market Production funded by Social Transfers in Kind from Government (code D.632). Therefore the changes in household Individual Consumption Expenditure in this release differ from those reported in the Quarterly National Accounts.
FCE at constant prices is deflated based on price changes for households resident here, including expenditure by Irish residents when they go abroad, but excluding expenditure by foreign tourists here in Ireland. This differs from the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes expenditure by Irish residents abroad and includes expenditure of foreign tourists within Ireland.
Total Disposable Income (TDI) of households was €48bn in the quarter before adjustment. After adjustment for seasonal factors, this was up 1.7% compared to the second quarter of 2025. After adjustment for price as well as seasonal factors, income was up 1% from Q2 2025. The changes in TDI before and after price and seasonal adjustment are shown in Figure 3.
The largest component of household income is Compensation of Employees (CoE): unadjusted CoE decreased 2% and made up €40bn of the €48bn TDI in the quarter. In addition to wages, TDI also includes other income such as self-employed earnings, interest and dividends received and social benefits (such as Child Benefit), but is after deduction of income taxes, social contributions (such as PRSI) and interest paid. More detail will be published in the Institutional Sector Accounts release next month.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 December 2025) published Household Saving Quarter 3 (Q3) 2025.
Commenting on the release, Mark Manto, Statistician in the National Accounts Analysis & Globalisation Division, said: "Households saved 14.8%, or €1 in €7, of their disposable income in July, August, and September (Q3) 2025, which was above the 2023 and 2024 average. Saving can add to a household's overall wealth in the form of buying new homes, growing bank deposits, pension savings, and paying off debt.
The increase in the seasonally adjusted household saving rate was due to a combination of an increase in household income combined with a flat level of spending on final consumption.
Today's results are preliminary and are subject to revision after the publication of the Institutional Sector Accounts for Q3 2025 release in the coming weeks."