Saving and investment sentiment continued to recover between October and December, new data shows.
Bank of Ireland's Savings and Investment Index is back to pre-pandemic levels, driven by more consumers feeling it's a good time to save, and improvements in attitudes to investing.
The index also showed changes in what is concerning Irish households at the end of 2024.
Inflation, which was so dominant in the survey results in the past three years, has reached its lowest level, with just 18% citing it has their primary concern, compared to a peak of 33% in February 2023.
Housing and the cost of rent concerns fell slightly to 16% from its peak of 19% in May 2023.
Conflicts such as the Middle East and Ukraine are prominent, cited by 28% of people as their main concern, while worries about global recession increased to 12%, doubling from 6% in July this year.
The overall Savings and Investment Index rose to 94 in the final three months of the year, up from 83 in July and a record low of 76 in August 2023.
"There is little doubt that the cost of living remains a prominent concern for a great deal of families in Ireland and the overall increase in prices over those years remains an enormous problem for many," said Kevin Quinn, Chief investment Strategist at Bank of Ireland.
"However, this is the first time we've seen the fall in the inflation rate beginning to influence how people are thinking about their savings and it was a considerable change in our most recent survey results," said Mr Quinn.
He added that attitudes to investing are also changing.
"This is driven by the dual impact of falling inflation and the experience many have had of an exceptional period of strong returns, with the global equity market generating almost 50% since the start of last year," Mr Quinn explained.
"Against that backdrop we are seeing increased confidence amongst investors, with as many as six in ten saying they need to invest more than they currently do.
"While inflation in Ireland has been falling since late 2022, it took until August 2023 before we saw a turning point for all the sentiment and attitudes tracked by our Savings and Investments Index, and they continue to improve," he added.
