Greek households experienced the second-largest increase in real per capita income among OECD countries for which data are available in the third quarter of 2024. This increase comes as a result of rising property income.

The figures show real income increasing by 1.3% year-on-year, trailing only Spain, which recorded a 2.2% increase over the same period. In contrast to property income, real per capita GDP in Greece grew at a slower pace, namely by 0.34% in the third quarter of 2024.

This development, after two years of negative or low growth in real per capita income, is attributed to the surge in Greek income from real estate. Indeed, with the third quarter of 2019 at 100 points, the share of real estate income in total disposable income stood at 183.3.

Rising trends in Spain and other countries

According to the OECD, Spain (162.5) and France (161.76) also showed a significant increase in real estate income. It is worth noting that in Spain, property income now accounts for 10.4% of household disposable income, up from 6.6% in the third quarter of 2019.

Most OECD countries experienced an increase in real per capita household income in Q3 2024. Of the 19 countries for which data are available, 12 recorded an increase, 6 recorded a decrease and 1 showed no change. Among the G7 economies, real per capita household income increased in all countries except the United Kingdom.

The largest increase was recorded by Canada (1.1%), which ranked third in the overall ranking after Greece. However, the Canadian economy continues to face challenges as the country’s real GDP per capita contracted for the sixth consecutive quarter.

Germany, after falling in the previous quarter, rebounded with a 0.9% increase in real per capita income and a slight rise in real per capita GDP (0.1%).

In France, real household income rose 0.7% for the fifth consecutive quarter, mainly driven by stronger wages, while real GDP per capita rose 0.3%.

Italy and the US saw smaller increases in real household income, at 0.4% and 0.1% respectively. In contrast, the UK was the only G7 country to post a decline (-0.1%) in real per capita income, as tax increases outpaced wage growth. At the same time, the country’s real GDP per capita fell by 0.2%.

In contrast, the UK saw a decline (0.1%) as taxes rose at a higher rate than wages, accompanied by a similar decline in real GDP per capita (-0.2%).

Finally, the largest decline in real per capita household income was observed in Denmark (-1.8%) in Q3 2024, mainly due to a contraction in property income and self-employment income, while real per capita GDP increased (0.8%).