Irish households save additional €14.9bn over past year

Irish households saved €14.9 billion in the 12 months to the end of April to bring total deposits to €131 billion.

Deposits increased by €2.2 billion last month, versus a €3 billion net inflow for April 2020, which was the first full month of strict Covid restrictions in the Republic.

Households also made significant repayments of credit totalling €242 million over the past year, versus drawdowns of €1.1 billion in the 12 months prior to April 2020.

New figures from the Central Bank show net lending to Irish households fell by €303 million last month. In annual terms, repayments exceeded new lending by €242 million or 0.3 per cent.

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Loans for house purchase fell by €166 million in April, while on an annual basis, lending totalled €408 million, the lowest recorded since May 2019.

Consumer lending saw a new decline of €90 million last month and by €554 million over the last year.

Additional data from the financial regulator shows card spending, including ATM withdrawals, totalled €6.2 billion last month, down €350 million when compared to March. In annual terms, card spending was up €2 billion or 47 per cent versus April 2020, when lockdowns were first introduced.

Online spending fell 8 per cent last month compared to March although it remained higher than in-store spending and accounted for 51 per cent of all point-of-sales transactions.