An in-depth look at the Covid-19 effects on saving in the largest euro-area countries

Abstract

Two years have passed since the beginning of the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus, and it finally seems like a path to normality is starting to be seen, although that still is a quite quick recovery time when you take into account that this was a situation nobody anticipated. While the virus itself could not affect the economies, the necessary measures to stop its spread brought huge consequences to the entire planet, especially in the health sector but also in the political and economic spheres. This project will delve into the effects that said pandemic has had in the saving of European households. Specifically, we compare the case in Spain to the one in other European countries like Germany, France, Italy and Sweden in order to shine a light into how the consumers have responded in terms of their financial planning, as well as getting a general comparison of how significant the shock of the Covid-19 epidemic has been.