Poland Leads in Real Household Income Growth in Europe in 2025

In 2025, Poland led the real household income growth among European countries. Finland and Austria, however, experienced declines in their incomes. Details in the news...

Scraper SystemMay 22, 2026, 10:38 AM

Among European countries, significant changes occurred in real household income per capita in 2025. Although Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is an important indicator of economic growth, real household income stands out as a more accurate measure reflecting personal disposable income. Among 16 European countries, 14 recorded an increase in real household income compared to 2024. Poland showed the highest increase with a growth rate of 4.1% and maintained its leading position in this area in both 2024 and 2025. The OECD stated that the increase in Poland was due to the rise in employee wages offsetting the decrease in social benefits. The Netherlands (2%) and Portugal (2%) also experienced growth above 2%. Denmark (1.9%), Greece (1.8%), and Spain (1.5%) saw increases between 1.5% and 2%. In Greece, the growth was influenced by increases in net property income and employee wages, as well as the unemployment rate falling to its lowest level since 2009. Belgium (1.4%), Hungary (1.2%), and Sweden (1.2%) also recorded growth above 1%. Italy reached the OECD average growth of 0.8% but experienced a 0.9% decline in the last quarter of the year. This decline was influenced by rising inflation and a decrease in property income. The Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Germany remained slightly below average with growth rates between 0.6% and 0.7%. In the UK, growth was supported by increases in employee wages and social benefits in the last quarter, along with reductions in income and wealth taxes. Conversely, growth in France was limited to just 0.2%. Finland and Austria experienced declines in real household income in 2025, by 0.7% and 1.8% respectively. The slow growth in Finland was due to income decreases caused by rising unemployment, cuts in social benefits, and increases in income and wealth taxes. Across the OECD, real household income growth slowed to 0.8% in 2025; this rate was 2.1% in 2024. A similar slowdown was observed in European countries. While all countries experienced income growth in 2024, only four countries recorded higher growth in 2025 compared to 2024. Belgium and Denmark increased their growth rates from 0.5% to 1.4% and from 1% to 1.9%, respectively. Increases were also seen in Sweden and the Netherlands. Austria, however, grew by 3.6% in 2024 but experienced a 1.8% decline in 2025.

Poland Leads in Real Household Income Growth in Europe in 2025

In 2025, Poland led the real household income growth among European countries. Finland and Austria, however, experienced declines in their incomes. Details in the news...