Household incomes fall in Greece and Austria - despite overall OECD growth
New OECD data shows a widening gap between economic growth and household prosperity, with Greece and Austria experiencing the sharpest declines in real income. Real household income per capita in OECD countries grew by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2026, slowing from the 0.6% growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025. Over the same period, real GDP per capita grew by 0.3%, up from 0.2% in the last quarter of 2025.
While GDP growth captures changes in overall economic activity, household income growth reflects changes in the income that households receive, that is, the income available for consumption or saving.
Of the 21 countries for which data are available, 13 recorded an increase in real household income per capita, while the other 8 saw a decrease. Among the G7 economies, real household income per capita increased by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2026, although developments varied from country to country.
In Italy, real household income per capita recovered after a decline of 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and increased by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2026. The recovery was mainly driven by higher compensation of employees, associated with a slight decline in the unemployment rate (from 5.7% to 5.4% in the first quarter of 2026), which offset a decline in social benefits.
Conversely, the sharpest declines in the first quarter of 2026 were recorded in Greece and Austria, where real household income per capita contracted due to falling net property income and social benefits, falling by 3.6% and 2.8% respectively.
Real disposable income per capita of households in Greece fell by 3.6% compared to the previous quarter, the largest decline among OECD countries. The decline is mainly due to two factors: a decrease in net property income, such as interest, dividends and investment income, and a decrease in net social benefits to households.
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