Saving statistics – Australia 2022

Savings may have skyrocketed over the course of the pandemic, but the cost of living worldwide has increased significantly. The average household savings among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations are predicted to dip by 6 percentage points from 2020 to 2022, according to Finder's analysis of data from the OECD.

Key statistics

Quick summary:

• Australia ranks 9th for predicted savings, behind the US and Germany, but ahead of Canada and New Zealand.
• Households will save about 9% of their disposable income in 2022, higher than the global average of 7%.
• Australians savings rate dropped significantly from 15% in 2020.
• Aussie household savings average at around $5,000 in 2022, $3,849 less than they would have saved in 2020.
• Household savings are predicted to drop by an average of $2,947 across OECD nations.

Drop in Australian household savings

• Australian households are expected to save 9% of their disposable income in 2022.
• With an average disposable income of $58,143, this means that Aussie households are setting aside $5,000 for their savings in 2022.
• Although this ranks Australia in the top 10 savers according to the OECD, it's a significant drop from their actual savings pre-pandemic of 15%.

• Household savings
• Table

How Australia compares to the rest of the world

• On average, households in countries included in the OECD are expected to save about 7% of their disposable income in 2022.
• Leading the way are the Swiss who are forecasted to save a fifth (20%) of their household income. This is followed by Luxembourg at 17% and Sweden at 14%.
• In Australian dollars, this means the Swiss are saving an estimated $12,393 on average this year. Luxembourgers don't fall too far behind at $12,031, followed by the Swedes at $7,230.
• Countries and regions on par with the global average are Austria, Slovenia, Estonia and the Euro Area whose households are expected to save 7% of their income.
• On the other end of the spectrum are Polish adults who are predicted to have no savings this 2022. In fact, households in Poland may go into debt by 1% of their household income; the equivalent of -$331. Kiwis are also expected to go into debt by 0.2% or $121 and Italians round off the bottom 3 by saving just 1% of their income in 2022.

• Forecasted savings in %
• Forecasted savings in AUD

Global drop in household savings

• Globally, households are saving about 6 percentage points less of their disposable income now than they would have in 2020. In 2020, household savings averaged 13%, much higher compared to the predicted 7% for 2022.
• This means savings dropped by an average of $2,947 across the OECD nations.
• Ireland is expected to see the biggest drop in savings from 21% down to just 7%. That's equivalent to $6,815 less in savings than they would have in 2020.
• This is followed by the Czech Republic (-11% or $4,361), Italy (-9% or $4,201), Slovenia (-9% or $3,510) and Canada (-8% or $4,507). Meanwhile, Australians will see the 10th biggest drop at 7% or $3,849.
• Luxembourg (1%), Latvia (1%) and the Slovak Republic (2%) are projected to have the smallest drops.

• 2020 vs 2022 savings
• Table
• Drop in AUD

Written by

Patricia Cruz

Author

Patricia Cruz is a public relations professional at Finder. She has a Bachelor degree in Organizational Communication from the University of the Philippines Manila. See full bio