Household wealth -the difference between assets (property, financial) and financial liabilities- matters because in the longer run, it should allow to finance expenditures post retirement. During the pandemic, we have seen in the euro area a big jump in the savings rate as well as an above-trend increase in property prices whereas financial assets suffered from negative valuation effects. The European Commission estimates that, on balance, between the onset of the pandemic and the end of 2021, households accumulated around EUR 2.7 trillion of new wealth in excess of the normal trend. This was considered as a factor of resilience for household spending. Households could save less than normal in case of a weaker economic environment because they had saved more than normal during the pandemic. However, according to the European Commission, by mid-2022 elevated inflation had already eroded the real value of additional wealth by almost 50%, implying a much thinner cushion to absorb shocks.
