Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 February 2014
73. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the extent to which personal savings in this jurisdiction have fluctuated over the past four years to date; the degree to which any such savings remain invested outside the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8818/14]
View answerData relating to personal (or household) savings are compiled and published by the Central Statistics Office. Household savings is defined as that part of household disposable income which is not used to purchase goods and services. The savings rate is the level of savings expressed as a percentage of household disposable income.
The profile for the quarterly savings rate (adjusted for seasonal factors) over the past four years is provided in the table.
|
- |
Q4 2009 |
Q1 2010 |
Q2 2010 |
Q3 2010 |
Q4 2010 |
Q1 2011 |
Q2 2011 |
Q3 2011 |
|
Household savings rate (%, sa) |
14.6 |
14.9 |
13.4 |
12.2 |
12.1 |
9.7 |
9.7 |
13.3 |
|
- |
Q4 2011 |
Q1 2012 |
Q2 2012 |
Q3 2012 |
Q4 2012 |
Q1 2013 |
Q2 2013 |
Q3 2013 |
|
Household savings rate (%, sa) |
12.2 |
12.4 |
11.1 |
9.0 |
8.3 |
8.8 |
8.7 |
8.4 |
In the early phase of the crisis, the household savings rate rose rapidly as households (in the aggregate) sought to build up a safety buffer. In addition, the increase in the savings rate reflected households desire to repair their balance sheets.
After peaking at over 17 per cent in early 2009, the savings rate has been on a downward trend over the last number of quarters and fell to 8.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2013. The CSO does not provide a breakdown of household saving held outside the State.
