Household disposable income indicates the income available to the household sector after the redistribution of primary income through mandatory and non-mandatory current transfers between sectors (taxes on income and wealth, social security contributions and benefits, and other current transfers). Primary income is defined as income from employee remuneration, interest, dividends, taxes and subsidies on production and imports. Secondary or disposable income is spent on consumption and voluntary savings. In the national accounts, gross means before deduction of depreciation (the consumption of fixed assets) and net means after deduction of depreciation. The net-definition is used in this news release.
Real disposable income is disposable income adjusted for inflation. Inflation is the change in the price level of household consumption (including non-profit institutions serving households).
The percentage change in real disposable income is calculated on the basis of rolling annual totals. The real disposable income for a given reporting quarter plus that of the three preceding quarters is divided by the sum of the four corresponding quarterly figures from the previous year. The change for the fourth quarter is therefore equal to the change for the year.
It is not possible to say how income trends are distributed across different types of households on the basis of these figures.
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