ATHENS: Greek households’ disposable income declined 1.8 percent in the first quarter of the year from the same period in 2015, Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) data showed on Friday.
That drop is mainly attributed to an increase in taxes and social security contributions, while there was also a fall in exports and imports in the January-March period.
ELSTAT reported that the disposable income of households added up to 26.4 billion euros in Q1, down from 26.9 billion a year earlier. Notably, income and wealth taxes grew by 15.2 percent to 2.3 billion euros in Q1 this year from 2 billion in 2015. Social security contributions came to 6.5 billion from 6.1 billion last year, in a 5.1 percent increase. At the same time the sum paid for salaries remained stable at 5.2 billion euros.
The drop in household incomes resulted in the decline of the final consumer expenditure of households in January-March this year to 28.9 billion euros, from 29.7 billion in 2015, posting a 2.7 percent fall.
