Households in the euro area saved a smaller share of their income in the final quarter of 2025, Eurostat noted, while business investment declined despite stable profit levels.
As the data showed, the household savings rate in the euro area fell to 14.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 14.8% in the previous quarter. This decline was driven by consumption rising by 1.2%, compared with a 0.8% increase in gross disposable income.
At the same time, household investment in the euro area showed a slight increase in the period, with the investment rate rising from 8.7% to 8.8% during the quarter, as spending on housing and renovations grew faster than income. Gross fixed capital formation for households increased by 1.8%.
Business performance
Among businesses, meanwhile, the profit share of non-financial corporations remained stable at 39.5% in the fourth quarter. This stability reflects parallel growth in both gross value added and costs related to wages, social contributions, and taxes, each increasing by 0.8%, Eurostat noted.
However, business investment declined, with the investment rate for non-financial corporations dropping from 21.9% to 21.4%, marking the lowest level since 2015. This decrease was caused by a 1.7% fall in gross fixed capital formation, while gross value added increased (+0.8%).
‘The peaks in Q2 2017, Q2 2019, Q4 2019 and Q1 2020 are related to large imports of intellectual property products reflecting globalisation effects,’ Eurostat commented.
Eurostat also made a number of revisions to its previously-published data – compared with the data released on 28 January 2026, the household saving rate for the third quarter of 2025 was revised downwards from 15.1% to 14.8%, the household investment rate was revised downwards from 9.0% to 8.7%, the profit share of non-financial corporations for the third quarter of 2025 was revised upwards from 39.2% to 39.5%, and the investment rate of non-financial corporations was revised from 21.7% to 21.9%. Read more here.
