Savings Barometer, 1st quarter 2019
Households’ loans increasing at a slower rate
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2019-05-23 9.30
Households’ loans continued to increase in the first quarter of 2019, but at a slower rate. The annual growth rate in loans was the lowest in nearly five years. Households’ financial savings amounted to SEK 59 billion in the first quarter of 2019, which was low compared with the corresponding period in recent years.
Households’ net borrowing – new loans minus amortisation – was SEK 13 billion less than in the fourth quarter last year and amounted to SEK 42 billion. The annual growth rate in loans decreased further and was 4.9 percent, which is a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared with the previous quarter. The annual growth rate has not been this low since the second quarter of 2014. Households’ loans, which mainly consist of loans in bank and housing credit institutions and student loans, amounted to SEK 4 270 billion in the first quarter this year.
Lower financial savings
Households’ financial savings amounted to SEK 59 billion in the first quarter of 2019, which is SEK 10 billion below the average for a first quarter in the last five-year period. The financial assets contributed to the comparatively low financial savings, since the decreased loan increase had the opposite effect on savings.
In the first quarter of 2019, households’ new savings in financial assets amounted to SEK 102 billion, which is lower than in the first quarter in the past five years. Bank deposits and insurance savings remained at the same high level as previously, but net purchases of tenant-owned apartments decreased and there were net sales of funds. Financial savings are often high in the first quarter, as tax accrual has a strong positive impact on savings.
Households’ interest in new tenant-owned apartments was lower
Net purchases of apartments with changing rights of tenancy to tenant-owned apartments and newly produced tenant-owned apartments amounted to SEK 7 billion in the first quarter of 2019, which was SEK 2 billion less than in the fourth quarter of 2018. Net purchases of new tenant-owned apartments have declined since the fourth quarter of 2017. Households’ ownership of tenant ownership rights is a financial asset and is included in the Savings Barometer. Tangible assets such as one- or two-dwelling buildings with ownership rights are not included in the Savings Barometer.
Households made net purchases of shares and net sales of funds
Households purchased shares for SEK 7 billion and made net sales of funds for SEK 5 billion. Above all, net sales were made in the fund category other funds, which include hedge funds and fund-of-funds. There were also net sales of other funds in the previous quarter, which was a break in the trend. Previously, other funds were the most popular investment category, and since 2012, households have net purchased other funds for SEK 6 billion on average per quarter.
Household wealth increased
Households’ financial wealth increased sharply in the first quarter, and returned to nearly the same level as before the substantial market dive in the previous quarter. The financial assets are to a large degree share-related and largely follow the development of the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
Households’ financial net wealth, measured as financial assets minus liabilities, amounted to SEK 9 749 billion at the end of the quarter.
Definitions and explanations
Financial savings is calculated as the difference between transactions in financial assets and transactions in liabilities.
No major revisions or methodology changes are published in the Savings Barometer. These are instead published in the Financial Accounts, where there is more time for calculations and reconciliation with other sectors. However, minor revisions can occur due to, for instance, revised primary statistics.
In connection with the publication of the Savings Barometer for the first quarter of 2019, the entire time series will be updated from the first quarter 2017 onwards with the revisions introduced in the Financial Accounts’ publication on 21 March.
More detailed descriptions of major revisions are described in the Financial Accounts:
Next publishing will be
2019-08-29 at 09:30.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.