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Key Findings

Households saved €19bn in 2023

CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Key Findings

  • The household saving rate was 12.40% in 2023, largely unchanged since 2022 (when it was 12.23%).

  • In Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 the rate was 12.09%, close to its Q3 2023 level.

  • Households saved €19bn in 2023, of which around half went into fixed assets such as homes, with the other half going into deposits and other financial assets.

  • The domestic economy as a whole was a net lender to the rest of the world of €40bn in 2023, down from €53bn in 2022. However, the reduced net lending position was due to higher imports of capital assets that can be used in future production.

  • Imports grew by €12bn in the last quarter of 2023.

  • Ireland is a net exporter of goods and services, but net exports fell in 2023 from €202bn to €169bn, a change of €33bn.

  • While the flow of goods and services was less positive for Ireland in 2023, the flow of income on investments improved by €28bn as outflows decreased and inflows increased.

  • The Non-Financial sector, which is dominated by global multi-national corporations, saw a decline in profits in 2023, but significant growth on investment income from overseas holdings.  

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 April 2024) released the Institutional Sector Accounts Non-Financial for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023.

Commenting on the release, Peter Culhane, Statistician in the National Accounts Analysis & Globalisation Division of the CSO, said:

"Households saved 12.09% of their income in October, November and December (Q4) 2023 (seasonally adjusted), and 12.40% in 2023 as a whole. The saving rate has averaged over 12% in the last two years, above the long-term pre-COVID average.

The expanding numbers of people working are driving up household income as well as higher income on assets such as pension funds. Meanwhile consumption is also going up, due to higher volumes as well as higher prices.

Overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was lower in 2023 than 2022, even before adjusting for inflation. This was due to changes by large foreign-owned non-financial corporations in how they configure their global operations. Their Irish units reduced their purchases of manufacturing services ('Goods for Processing') significantly, but at the same time, more investment income (dividends and reinvested earnings) flowed into these corporations from abroad. These changes largely account for the significant decline in net exports and for the decline in net lending being smaller. There were also significant imports of intellectual property, which is part of capital investment for future production here.

The Government sector had a surplus of €5.9bn in the last quarter of 2023, and €8.5bn in the year as a whole (down slightly from €8.6bn in 2022). Government tax receipts and current spending both grew by €4bn in 2023 when compared with 2022, while investment income and capital spending grew by €1bn each."