Real household income rises in OECD area in Q1

ISTANBUL

Real household income per capita in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area rose 0.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, according to a report the group released on Thursday

The growth figure slowed from 0.6% growth in the last quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita also climbed 0.1% in the same period, also slowing from a 0.4% rise in the previous quarter.

"Despite the overall growth in real household income per capita, the picture was mixed across OECD countries," the OECD said in a statement.

Among the 20 countries for which data is available, half recorded a rise and half a fall.

Italy saw an increase of 1% in the household income, rebounding from a contraction in the previous quarter, "supported mainly by remuneration of employees and net property income, while real GDP per capita also grew (0.4%)."

Household income in the US continued to grow (0.5%), primarily driven by remuneration of employees and government social benefits while GDP per capita fell 0.3% in the first quarter.

Conversely, the UK and Germany reported declines in household income in the first quarter, down 1.3% and 0.4% respectively.

Meanwhile, GDP per capita in both the UK and Germany rose 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.

"The fall in real household income per capita in the United Kingdom followed a relatively large increase in Q4 2024, while in Germany it marked the second consecutive quarter of decrease," it noted.

Among other OECD countries, Chile saw the strongest growth in household income (3.1%), while Portugal posted the largest decline (-4.5%).