Greek households' disposal income over the last quarter of 2016 reached the same level as the corresponding period of 2015, according to figures released on Wednesday by Greece's independent statistical agency (EL.STAT).
According to reports, Greek households' disposal income, in total, reached 28.34 billion euros in Q4 2016, only marginally higher than the 28.91 billion euros of Q4 2015, the Greek economy's "annus horribilis" over the entire economic implosion that erupted in 2010 and has continued to the present.
Households' consumption increased by 0.9 percent, yoy, which if including NGOs that support households, reached 31.5 billion euros, up from 31.2 billion euros in Q4 2015.
Given that households' consumption was greater than disposal income, the gap was, by all accounts, filled by households dipping into their savings.
This observation is confirmed by the percentage of calculated households' savings, which is defined by gross savings in relation to the gross disposable income, which dropped by 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with a decrease of 8 percent in the same quarter of 2015.
