- Citizens save less
With the end of the Corona pandemic, households in North Rhine-Westphalia saved less in 2022. On average, €2,923 per capita was set aside, which was €774 or about one-fifth less than the previous year, according to the Statistical Office of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In comparison: In 2020, the year of the Corona pandemic, the savings amount rose to an average of €3,964 per capita (+62.1%), and consumer spending fell for the first time to €20,039 per capita. However, from 2021 to 2022, consumer spending increased by 12.2% to an average of €23,505 per capita. Adjusted for the sharp increase in consumer prices, the increase was only 4.9%, IT.NRW reported.
The savings rate of households - the share of their available income used for savings - fell to 11.1% in 2022, down from 15% previously. The national savings rate was exactly the same. This brought the rate in NRW closer to its pre-Corona level (2019: 10.3%), after it had reached a record high of 16.5% in 2020, during the pandemic-induced consumption restrictions.
Despite the decline in savings, households still managed to set aside €2,923 per capita in 2022, demonstrating a need to maintain some form of financial reserve. As household spending increased from 2021 to 2022, the savings rate dropped to 11.1%, returning closer to pre-pandemic levels.
