The progressive harmonization of European statistics and the interest in the effects of individual behavior on economic variables have favored the multiplication of surveys and polls on the main indicators of household well-being. In addition to the sectoral accounts, for some years the ECB has been following the trend in the per capita values of some financial and non-financial variables referring to the household sector. In the year ending in September 2016, an improvement was recorded for all monitored indicators.
In the euro area, employed persons increase, the per capita values of income and consumption grow, as do new investments in financial assets and real per capita assets. In the same period, per capita liabilities also increase, while the rate of debt today at 93,5% of disposable income (4 percentage points less than the maximum at the end of 2010). Thanks also to the revaluations of the various assets, each resident in the area saw his net wealth increase by approximately €6.000, but with large differences between the main economies: for the Germans the value exceeded the average figure (€6.313) while the Italians, on the other hand, saw their assets fall by €2.800 due to the simultaneous devaluation of their financial and real assets.
For Spain, the greatest contribution to the increase in per capita resources (+€3.638) came from a recovery in property prices, while for France (+€956) from an appreciation of financial assets.
However, the overall improvement in the economic and financial situation of EMU households at the per capita level is questioned by the results of the second household budget survey, also from the ECB. Between 2010 and 2014 the median net wealth of households fell by more than 10% (from 116 thousand to 104 thousand euros) with a decrease which in the case of the less well-off classes reached -23% while it is limited to -9% in the case of the wealthier ones.
In Italy the decline was double-digit (-22% to €146 thousand), in France by over 9% (to 113 thousand) while in Germany the median wealth increased by 10,3% (to €61 thousand). The most affected category is that of the standard family: with four members, owner (with mortgage loan) of the house of residence, in the 35-44 age group and belonging to the central income class.
