Households saved 19% of their income in the first quarter of this year, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.
People saved more than in the previous two quarters and almost twice the pre-Covid average.
Households were saving nearly €1 for every €4 they spent between January and March.
The data shows that incomes continued to rise in the first three months of the year, and are now significantly higher than their pre-pandemic levels.
Total earnings increased across almost all sectors, with the largest growth in sectors including public administration, education and health and professional, scientific and technical services.
However, rising incomes did not translate into more spending.
"Price rises in themselves as well as uncertainty caused by international events could have influenced decisions to spend or to save," said Peter Culhane, Statistician with the CSO.
"Full reopening of society and businesses only came in the course of the first quarter which might also have affected spending," he added.
The figures show there was only a slight rise in spending in the quarter .
According to the CSO, this increase was due to price inflation, rather than larger volumes of goods and services being consumed.
The Consumer Price Index shows prices were 5.8% higher in the quarter compared with the first quarter of 2021.
