New figures from the Central Statistics Office today show that the household saving rate stood at 10.01% in the first quarter of the year - little changed to the rate of 10.08% in the last quarter of 2022.
The CSO said the saving rate had been declining since the start of 2021 as Covid restrictions started to ease and it has returned to its 2019 level.
Ireland's saving rate followed a similar pattern to that of the rest of the EU during the Covid pandemic.
The CSO noted that itt was generally higher than our European peers' during Covid-19 restrictions having been lower in 2019 and earlier years. It is now returning to a rate below the EU aggregate.
Continuing saving by households and government contributed to a current account surplus for Ireland in the quarter, the CSO added.
Today's figures show that household saving reached €4.8 billion in the first three months of 2023,
The funds saved were used for capital investment (such as new homes), adding to deposits, building up pensions and paying off debts.
The figures also reveal that incomes continued to grow in the first quarter with high numbers in work and low unemployment.
The increase kept pace with inflation but there was no significant growth in disposable income after adjustment for price changes, the CSO added.
Higher prices led to more household spending, but there was also greater volume of consumption of goods and services in the quarter.
The CSO said that household consumption in January, February and March of this year exceeded the peak pre-pandemic level of personal spending recorded in the second quarter of 2019 by 27%, and by 8% after adjusting for inflation.
