Euro area net saving fell to €868 billion over the four quarters through June 2026, while government borrowing grew and corporate financing accelerated, data from the European Central Bank (ECB) and Eurostat show.
The total was 6.7% of net disposable income, compared with €895 billion over the four quarters through the first quarter. Net non-financial investment came to €599 billion, or 4.6% of net disposable income. The ECB said the decrease reflected lower net investment by non-financial corporations. Net lending to the rest of the world stayed broadly unchanged at €312 billion.
Households recorded €703 billion in net lending, down from €715 billion in the previous four-quarter period. Non-financial corporations’ net lending rose to €127 billion from €103 billion, while financial corporations shifted from net borrowing of €3 billion to net lending of €9 billion. General government net borrowing increased to €528 billion from €500 billion.
The household debt-to-income ratio was 80.3% in the second quarter, down from 80.5% a year earlier. The ECB calculates this measure by comparing loans with gross disposable income adjusted for changes in pension entitlements. Household debt-to-GDP also fell, to 50.0% from 50.4%. For non-financial corporations, the consolidated debt-to-GDP ratio declined to 66.1% from 66.4%; the broader, non-consolidated ratio was little changed at 135.9%.
Non-financial corporations’ financing grew at an annual rate of 1.7% in the second quarter, up from 1.4% in the first. Loan financing growth reached 3.2%, compared with 2.4% in the previous quarter. Household financial investment grew at an annual rate of 2.7%. Investment growth in debt securities accelerated to 5.7% from 4.0%, while growth in shares and other equity eased to 1.5% from 1.8%.
The Oct. 28 release completed the second-quarter sector accounts across all sectors and included revisions reaching back to the first quarter of 1999. The ECB plans to publish experimental Distributional Wealth Accounts for the second quarter on Nov. 25.
