Euro area net saving stood broadly unchanged at €902 billion during the four quarters to the first quarter of 2026, according to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest quarterly report.

This total compared with €900 billion recorded in the previous four-quarter period, representing 7.0 per cent of euro area net disposable income.

Meanwhile, net non-financial investment across the monetary union decreased to €629 billion, which equalled 4.9 per cent of net disposable income.

The central bank noted that this decline in non-financial investment was primarily driven by lower capital expenditure from non-financial corporations and financial corporations.

Reflecting reduced non-financial investment alongside steady net saving, net lending from the euro area to the rest of the world increased to €307 billion from €296 billion previously.

A breakdown across institutional sectors shows that households’ net lending rose significantly from €591 billion to €688 billion, accounting for 5.3 per cent of net disposable income.

Similarly, net lending by non-financial corporations expanded from €92 billion to €113 billion, equivalent to 0.9 per cent of net disposable income.

In contrast, financial corporations recorded a sharp decline in net lending, falling from €86 billion down to minus €1 billion.

At the same time, general government net borrowing widened to minus €493 billion, representing minus 3.8 per cent of net disposable income and weighing more negatively on total net lending.

Turning to household activities, the annual growth rate of financial investment accelerated to 2.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, up from 2.6 per cent in the prior quarter.

Higher momentum was recorded across several categories, with pension scheme investments surging to 5.5 per cent from 2.8 per cent previously.

Life insurance investments grew at 2.8 per cent, compared with 2.6 per cent in the prior period, while debt securities investments rose to 3.5 per cent from 3.2 per cent.

Investment in shares and other equity grew at an unchanged rate of 2.0 per cent, maintaining its previous pace.

Conversely, household investment in currency and deposits slowed down to 2.9 per cent, falling from 3.1 per cent recorded in the preceding quarter.

When building their portfolios, households acted as overall net buyers of debt securities, focusing predominantly on sovereign bonds issued by general governments.

During the same period, households offloaded debt securities issued by monetary financial institutions, turning into net sellers of those specific instruments.

In equity markets, households were net sellers of listed shares, disposing mainly of equities issued by non-financial corporations.

However, they purchased listed shares issued by non-euro area residents, alongside securities from other financial institutions and insurance firms.

Households also maintained a strong appetite for funds, remaining net purchasers of both non-money market investment fund shares and money market fund shares.

Regarding household liabilities, the household debt-to-income ratio stood broadly unchanged at 81.0 per cent during the first quarter of 2026.

Measured against the broader economy, the household debt-to-GDP ratio eased to 50.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, down from 50.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2025.

For businesses, the financing of non-financial corporations increased at an unchanged annual rate of 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.

Financing via loans from all creditors held steady at 2.3 per cent growth, with loans granted by monetary financial institutions maintaining a 2.9 per cent rate.

Internal corporate funding accelerated, as intra-sector loans between companies within the same group grew by 2.8 per cent, up from 2.4 per cent previously.

On the other hand, loans sourced from other financial institutions decelerated to 1.3 per cent, compared with 2.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

Capital markets provided mixed results, as the net issuance of shares and equity remained unchanged at 0.7 per cent.

However, net issuance of debt securities accelerated to 4.0 per cent from 3.2 per cent, while trade credit and advances grew by 4.2 per cent, up from 4.0 per cent.

Corporate indebtedness continued its downward trend, as the consolidated debt-to-GDP ratio for non-financial corporations decreased to 65.6 per cent from 67.1 per cent a year earlier.

Finally, the broader non-consolidated debt measure for corporations eased to 136.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, down from 137.9 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.