A large rise in deposits and fall in debt saw household net worth rising to a record €817 billion in the second quarter of this year, according to figures from the Central Bank.
The effect of the initial pandemic restrictions, which saw households putting aside significant savings on deposit, contributed to a €21.6 billion increase in financial assets in the three month period.
The overall resilience of the property market during the quarter saw housing assets remaining relatively stable at €542 billion.
As households continued to pay down debt, household liabilities fell by €1.4 billion to stand at €143 billion.
Household debt has now fallen by over a third from the peak of €202 billion in the middle of 2008, according to the regulator.
The overall effect was net worth increasing to €166,051 per person in the country by June of this year.
However, the increase in household worth was by no means uniform.
Unemployment increased to 5.2% in June and overall pay fell by €2.1 billion in the quarter as people were laid off in large numbers due to the pandemic.
There was a €4.4 billion rise in Social Transfers, largely accounted for by the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), and subsidies, the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS), in the three month period.
Those 'counteracting movements', together with a near €6 billion fall in consumption, lessened the impact of unemployment and the fall in pay in the quarter, the study concludes.
