Despite more income

Austrians have less money at their disposal

(Bild: Anna - stock.adobe.com)

The disposable income of Austrian households fell slightly in 2023 due to inflation. Although income rose by 7.6 percent in nominal terms, in real terms there was a year-on-year decrease of 0.5 percent, as announced by Statistics Austria in a press release on Friday. 

According to the provisional data, inflation-adjusted private consumption fell by 0.3 percent in the same period. Meanwhile, the savings rate also fell slightly.

Less is being put aside
While Austrian households were still putting aside 9.2% of their disposable income in 2022, the figure was slightly lower last year at 9%. This means that the proportion of income that is not used for consumption has recently returned to roughly pre-coronavirus levels.

Corona led to a higher savings rate
In 2020, the coronavirus measures led to lower consumer spending and thus to a savings rate of 13.2%. In 2021, it was 11.2%. The disposable income of private households increased from 250.3 billion euros in 2022 to 269.4 billion euros - although this was offset by high inflation.

Among the most important income categories, compensation of employees increased by 8.9% in nominal terms, monetary social benefits rose by 6.6% and other transfers fell by 2.8%.