Household real consumption per capita grows in both the euro area and the EU

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

A first release, focusing on data for household saving and investment rates in the euro area, is published around 94 days after each quarter ends. Compared with the rate indicated in the first news release of 9 April 2026 on the euro area aggregate, the seasonally adjusted household saving rate of the fourth quarter of 2025 remained unrevised at 14.4%. The investment rate also remained unrevised at 8.8%.

Compared with the rate indicated in the news release of 28 January 2026, the growth rate of household real income per capita for the third quarter of 2025 was revised from 0.1% to 0.0% for the euro area and from 0.2% to 0.1% for the EU. The growth rate of household real consumption per capita remained unrevised at 0.4% for the euro area and was revised from 0.5% to 0.6% for the EU.

Methods and definitions

Household real income per capita is defined as the adjusted gross disposable income of households, in nominal terms, divided by the total population (source: national accounts) and by the deflator (price index) of household actual final consumption.

Household real consumption per capita is defined as the actual final consumption of households, in nominal terms, divided by the total population (source: national accounts) and by the deflator (price index) of household actual final consumption.

For more definitions, please consult the national accounts glossary.

The compilation of the European sector accounts follows the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010) and covers the period from the first quarter of 1999 onwards. The data come from a detailed set of seasonally adjusted quarterly European sector accounts released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and the European Central Bank (ECB).

Institutional sectors bring together economic units with broadly similar characteristics and behaviour, namely: households (including non-profit institutions serving households), non-financial corporations, financial corporations, government, and the rest of the world. For the rest of the world, to measure the external transactions of the euro area / European Union, it is necessary to remove cross-border flows within the area concerned.

Eurostat’s database includes detailed annual and quarterly sector accounts of Member States of the European Economic Area and derived key indicators published around 120 days after each quarter ends (which also cover annual indicators such as debt-to-income ratios). A subset of quarterly key indicators is published around 94 days after each quarter ends.

Due to the conversion to euro, the growth rates of European Union aggregates may be affected by movements in exchange rates.

Geographical information

Up to 31 December 2025, the euro area included Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland (EA20), plus the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism and the European Financial Stability Facility.

From 1 January 2026, the euro area also includes Bulgaria (EA21). The aggregate data series presented in this release still refer to EA20. The aggregate EA21 data will be presented starting from the next release on 3 July 2026.

The European Union includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden (EU27), plus the EU institutions.