Spanish household saving in times of the pandemic

Summary

Household savings increased by a factor of 2.3 in 2020 as a result of the restrictions imposed by the epidemiological situation and the fear of contagion. Moving forward, the absorption of excess savings is a source of uncertainty that could mean an upward bias to short term growth.

Key points

• Key points:
• Spanish households' savings increased by 60,807 million euros in 2020 to 14.7% of their gross disposable income, 6.6 percentage points above the average of the last two decades.
• According to BBVA Research estimates, most of the increase in savings is due to the impossibility of consumption as a result of the restrictions imposed by the epidemiological situation and the fear of contagion. Uncertainty surrounding the labour market accounted for the rest.
• The absorption of excess savings will boost household spending in the coming quarters, although uncertainty is exceptionally high.

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