Greek household savings recorded the second-highest negative rate in the European Union in the first quarter of 2026, drawing down reserves even as real incomes fell and consumption rose, according to preliminary Eurostat data published Thursday.

Greek household savings declined by 3.7% compared with the final quarter of 2025, the second-worst performance in the bloc after Romania, which posted a negative savings rate of 5.3 percentage points. When adjusted for inflation, Greece recorded the steepest drop in real disposable household income in the EU, falling 3.65 %, ahead of Romania at 3.1%.

Despite shrinking real incomes, Greek households increased personal spending by 1.2% quarter-on-quarter, a divergence that economists say points to households funding consumption through savings, borrowing, or income from the informal economy.

Investment Collapse

The sharpest negative reading for Greece in the Eurostat data involves household investment. Gross fixed capital formation — a measure covering primarily home purchases and renovations — plunged 11.8% quarter-on-quarter, by far the largest decline among all member states with available data. Sweden and Finland, the next-worst performers, recorded drops of 2.5% and 2.8 % respectively.

The household investment rate also fell by 0.7%, again the worst result among all countries examined.

The collapse in housing investment comes at a time when Greece’s housing affordability crisis remains a central public policy concern, adding to evidence that an increasing number of Greek households are unable to buy or upgrade a home using their own resources.

By contrast, Romania — despite recording the largest quarterly drops in both disposable income and savings — led the EU in household investment, with the investment rate rising 2.2% and fixed capital formation surging 11.2%.