Household Income and Saving
Gross disposable income of households (B.6g) and the adjustment for the change in pension entitlements (D.8) together comprise total disposable income of households. The growth rate of total disposable income is illustrated by the line graph in Figure 1.1 below. The rate of growth is 5% or higher in each of the last four years. The contributions to this trend by the various components of actual gross disposable income are illustrated in the bar charts. Compensation of employees (CoE, mainly wages and salaries) is the largest single contributor to the trend, with mixed-income also growing. In 2017 there was higher than usual income from households' investments and this returned to more normal levels in 2018.
| COE | Self-Employed inc | Net property inc , adj in pension entitlements and other curr transfers | Net Soc benefits | Current taxes | Actual GDI | |
| 2011 | -0.938781124771817 | -0.922900908209088 | -0.74705534352746 | -0.706589289227592 | -1.81165422064743 | -4.90613295891701 |
| 2012 | 0.306703026459903 | 0.431644250271781 | 3.29706847815459 | 0.831801466145209 | -1.46659841969434 | 3.50582377324191 |
| 2013 | 1.9097867640846 | 0.145266716441277 | -0.708257702996301 | -1.13607913896036 | -0.386116096600637 | -0.175267204769922 |
| 2014 | 2.81741668421178 | 1.57691262979775 | 0.915281290879461 | -1.62839419736963 | -1.86484514476333 | 1.83963535422633 |
| 2015 | 5.23201836900067 | 1.34290168995091 | -0.80136400842221 | -0.209722124198433 | -0.787582714985859 | 5.03631679534492 |
| 2016 | 5.06995642158207 | 1.99508207325137 | -1.03898751050463 | -0.564358309192262 | -0.605163869746189 | 5.14572896643743 |
| 2017 | 5.36047694349068 | 1.19908186156448 | 2.00731393148189 | -1.09260960482759 | -0.827795035465172 | 7.0227767780022 |
| 2018 | 4.79975799858516 | 2.00890492404802 | 0.115581445323587 | -0.336640341778207 | -1.62022809915648 | 5.23041493328731 |
Overall, household total gross disposable income increased from €104.4m in 2017 to €109.8bn in 2018, an increase of €5.4bn. At the same time household final expenditure on goods and services (P.3) increased by nearly €5bn from €93.8m to €98.8m. As a result the gross saving of households (B.8g) grew from €10.6bn in 2017 to €11.0bn in 2018. Expressed as a percentage of total disposable income the corresponding gross saving ratio was 10.1% in 2017 and 10.0% in 2018. Figure 1.2 shows actual gross disposable income, final expenditure on goods and services and the saving ratio for the household sector for the period 2010 – 2018. While there are clear upward trends in both income and expenditure since 2012, the saving ratio has been volatile in recent years. Also included in Figure 1.2 is the EU saving ratio, which shows a declining trend and is below the Irish value in 2017 and 2018.
| Actual GDI | PCE | Saving | EU Saving Ratio | |
| 2010 | 90.9279659946767 | 79.8119471782 | 12.2250824538706 | 12.09 |
| 2011 | 86.6168925148462 | 79.251216049 | 8.5037413049466 | 11.31 |
| 2012 | 89.4580073064261 | 79.6264452462 | 10.9901420300471 | 11.07 |
| 2013 | 89.270904165729 | 80.9223433025 | 9.35193940427679 | 11.05 |
| 2014 | 91.0760525424201 | 83.7627334261 | 8.02990348413909 | 10.89 |
| 2015 | 94.9587948073704 | 86.8442294811 | 8.54535416412065 | 10.78 |
| 2016 | 99.747151555762 | 91.7614816761 | 8.00591270538461 | 10.58 |
| 2017 | 106.728498863527 | 95.5729115581 | 10.4523041401453 | 9.44 |
| 2018 | 112.004560841575 | 100.5250194409 | 10.2491731715388 | 9.97 |
Household and NPISH Debt
The balance sheet position in relation to household and NPISH debt (Table 2.4 Liabilities – AF.4 Loans) continued to decrease from €139bn in 2017 to €135bn in 2018. The resulting debt to income ratio for this sector, which measures the sustainability of household debt, decreased from a peak of 209% in 2009 to 121% in 2018, around the same level as 2003.
Figure 1.3 charts the movement in these series for the period 2001 to 2018.
| Debt | Actual GDI | Debt to Income Ratio | |
| 2001 | 58.6068871107519 | 60.1777262563092 | 97.3896668364191 |
| 2002 | 71.9556732527561 | 64.5483741902352 | 111.475578053586 |
| 2003 | 88.2388309716663 | 69.9823508751764 | 126.087263243061 |
| 2004 | 109.462393592215 | 74.8082621337008 | 146.323935979931 |
| 2005 | 140.556610681422 | 82.0735633931357 | 171.256863806619 |
| 2006 | 169.256676576979 | 88.38746666081 | 191.49397869554 |
| 2007 | 194.313755635398 | 95.929739924138 | 202.558409716385 |
| 2008 | 202.719281384493 | 101.786974226064 | 199.160337485092 |
| 2009 | 197.707799798438 | 94.4597827357283 | 209.303678319448 |
| 2010 | 184.881859554364 | 90.9279659946767 | 203.327829377804 |
| 2011 | 178.836696910449 | 86.6168925148462 | 206.468613359451 |
| 2012 | 172.4839913496 | 89.4580073064261 | 192.810008341433 |
| 2013 | 167.469243656985 | 89.270904165729 | 187.596670182799 |
| 2014 | 157.891093830528 | 91.0760525424201 | 173.361810731738 |
| 2015 | 148.52106524016 | 94.9587948073704 | 156.40580268678 |
| 2016 | 141.472038835432 | 99.747151555762 | 141.830655441168 |
| 2017 | 139.063108501088 | 106.728498863527 | 130.296134567494 |
| 2018 | 135.146002947008 | 112.004560841575 | 120.661160520209 |
Use of Household and NPISH Saving
Gross household and NPISH saving (B.8g) climbed to €11.5bn in 2018 from a low of €7.3bn in 2014. The use of saving in this sector is dominated by capital investment in dwellings and related financial transactions in loans and deposits. How households and NPISH have been using their saving is illustrated in Figure 1.4 below. The line graph is the trend in gross household saving while the bar chart illustrates transactions in investment and borrowing by households and NPISH1.
Mortgage and other borrowing transactions by households grew by €2.1bn from -€0.9bn in 2017 to €1.2bn in 2018 (Table 2.2 - Liabilities F.4), the first time this has been positive in ten years. This is driven by borrowing to buy new homes: gross capital formation stood at €7.5bn in 2017. Household's also put money aside for the future in deposits of €5.1bn (Table 2.1 – Assets F.2) and investment in insurance and pension funds of €3.5bn (Table 2.1 – Assets F.6).
| GFCF | Shares | Deposits | Loans | Insurance&Pensions | Gross Saving | |
| 2009 | 8.80751041312327 | -1.98595025464262 | 5.2614202250906 | -2.01366476523815 | 2.81277415124 | 13.2773468986283 |
| 2010 | 5.67999898880154 | -4.36373918624236 | 0.548180396929281 | -9.8183523861205 | 3.1185432662 | 11.1160188164767 |
| 2011 | 4.39772366943337 | -1.74962097173598 | -1.72683745760774 | -8.85124592294578 | 3.1038554093 | 7.36567646584618 |
| 2012 | 3.99572411463802 | -3.60985902912452 | 0.989173525613431 | -7.31716889792146 | 3.01576028094795 | 9.83156206022613 |
| 2013 | 4.09397385836725 | -1.10073372297394 | 0.203158550900019 | -4.562347692615 | 2.24787829925499 | 8.34856086322898 |
| 2014 | 3.96655051565048 | -2.98859612970475 | 2.59830788313175 | -5.57979736945661 | 3.09177033871623 | 7.31331911632014 |
| 2015 | 4.55004410884332 | -2.19762270460355 | 3.94392343711328 | -4.51969193038585 | 2.82869872970909 | 8.11456532627041 |
| 2016 | 5.41934944716703 | -0.0349887685750698 | 3.21561627922974 | -2.72282680172762 | 0.99224911770701 | 7.98566987966199 |
| 2017 | 5.99363290161704 | -0.571165844264747 | 4.06315482263201 | -0.941930334344126 | 3.53888259155766 | 11.1555873054274 |
| 2018 | 7.53127288586698 | -0.151723263108746 | 5.045743973868 | 1.18106099091937 | 3.4528182080355 | 11.4795414006745 |
1It is important to make the distinction between balance sheet measures of household debt, i.e. the outstanding stock of loans illustrated in Figure 1.3 and transactions in loans, i.e. increases (+) or decreases (-) included in Figure 1.4.
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