
Household disposable income per capita in Europe's major economies rose by 0.2% to 3.4% in the first three months of 2024. During the same period, GDP per capita also increased in most European countries.
Most European countries saw growth in both real per capita household income and real per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Poland experienced the largest increase in disposable income per capita, growing by 10.2% compared to a decline of 2.7% in the last quarter of 2023. According to the OECD, this growth was “mainly driven by increased employee compensation , social benefits and property income". Portugal was the second country with the largest increase, with 6.7%.
Among Europe's major economies, Italy recorded the strongest growth at 3.4%. The OECD attributed the increase to "a rise in employee compensation, reversing the decline in the previous quarter."
Spain and Germany also recorded significant increases in real household income per capita. In Spain, this rose by 1.5%, after a significant increase of 3.7% in the previous quarter. In Germany, it rose 1.4%, compared with just 0.1% in the previous quarter, driven in part by an increase in employee compensation.
France experienced a 0.6% increase in real household income per capita, which was "mainly supported by an increase in basic pension benefits to keep pace with inflation," according to the OECD. The United Kingdom recorded a more modest increase of 0.2%.
Greece experienced the biggest drop in disposable income, with a 1.9% drop, followed by Belgium and the Czech Republic, both down 1.4%, and Hungary down 0.7%. Sweden and Denmark also posted slight declines.