New Zealand households saved $2.5 billion during the December 2021 quarter as increasing incomes helped offset a rebound in household spending, Stats NZ said today.
Household disposable income grew 2.0 percent in the December 2021 quarter to $52.9 billion. Spending by New Zealanders rose to $50.4 billion in the December 2021 quarter. This is an increase of 6.4 percent, following the fall of 5.9 percent in the September 2021 quarter.
"The December 2021 quarter saw an easing of COVID-19 alert level restrictions and the COVID-19 protection framework that was introduced at the start of December. Households spent more on services and on durable goods such as clothing, footwear, and electrical appliances, which may have been less accessible during level 4 restrictions in the September 2021 quarter," national accounts institutional sector insights senior manager Paul Pascoe said.
Whilst the increased spending led to household saving being lower than the $4.4 billion in the September 2021 quarter, saving remained higher than the levels seen in the first two quarters of 2021.
The saving ratio, which compares saving to disposable income, was 4.7 percent for the December 2021 quarter. This was much higher than the saving ratio in the March 2021 (1.3 percent) and June 2021 (1.5 percent) quarters, despite the three quarters having similar levels of household spending. This difference is explained by the higher level of disposable income in the December 2021 quarter.
| Quarter | Household saving ($) |
| Jun-16 | 271000000 |
| Sep-16 | -366000000 |
| Dec-16 | -218000000 |
| Mar-17 | 295000000 |
| Jun-17 | -509000000 |
| Sep-17 | -381000000 |
| Dec-17 | 347000000 |
| Mar-18 | 216000000 |
| Jun-18 | 292000000 |
| Sep-18 | 324000000 |
| Dec-18 | 253000000 |
| Mar-19 | 298000000 |
| Jun-19 | 804000000 |
| Sep-19 | 1378000000 |
| Dec-19 | 1203000000 |
| Mar-20 | 2152000000 |
| Jun-20 | 7180000000 |
| Sep-20 | 2901000000 |
| Dec-20 | 1922000000 |
| Mar-21 | 667000000 |
| Jun-21 | 790000000 |
| Sep-21 | 4437000000 |
| Dec-21 | 2475000000 |
| Quarter | Saving ratio (%) |
| Jun-16 | 0.7 |
| Sep-16 | -1.0 |
| Dec-16 | -0.6 |
| Mar-17 | 0.7 |
| Jun-17 | -1.3 |
| Sep-17 | -0.9 |
| Dec-17 | 0.8 |
| Mar-18 | 0.5 |
| Jun-18 | 0.7 |
| Sep-18 | 0.7 |
| Dec-18 | 0.6 |
| Mar-19 | 0.7 |
| Jun-19 | 1.8 |
| Sep-19 | 3.0 |
| Dec-19 | 2.6 |
| Mar-20 | 4.5 |
| Jun-20 | 15.0 |
| Sep-20 | 5.9 |
| Dec-20 | 3.9 |
| Mar-21 | 1.3 |
| Jun-21 | 1.5 |
| Sep-21 | 8.6 |
| Dec-21 | 4.7 |
The increase in household disposable income was driven by a 2.5 percent increase in compensation of employees, with almost all industries showing increases in their payments to employees. Income for self-employed business owners and partnerships also contributed to this increase with a growth of 4.5 percent in the December 2021 quarter.
The impact of these increases on household disposable income was softened by a corresponding rise in income tax paid by households of 9.4 percent in the December 2021 quarter.
