Irish households saved more than €31 billion in 2020 as a result of pandemic

As the pandemic restricted movements and much of the holidays, the households were able to save more than €31 billion in 2020, says Central Statistics Office (CSO) report.

The financial net worth hit an all-time high which is €312.8 billion. This amount is three times higher than that of prior to the pandemic. The people’s movements were restricted and that resulted in lower consumer spending. While many people lost jobs, many others continued working from home and also found new jobs to earn. Payments like Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) also helped a lot of people to take care of daily needs.

Some €16 billion was added in deposits in 2020, far outstripping the €12 billion added in 2006, at the height of the SSIA (Special Savings Incentives Accounts) scheme.

“Incomes for those who continued to work through the restrictions rose on average, while an €8.8 billion government intervention mitigated the decline in incomes for those out of work because of the pandemic.” said CSO statistician Peter Culhane.

“This extra saving brought household financial net worth to an all-time high of €312.8 billion in 2020.” He added.

There were reports that the property industry had greatly benefited from the extra savings of people. People started buying homes with these savings and the experts pointed out that this resulted in house price rise.

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