Financial Accounts second quarter 2025
Households continue to save
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2025-09-18 8.00
In the second quarter of 2025, household liquid savings amounted to SEK 157 billion. While savings in liquid financial assets were at a high level, the annual growth rate of loans to households also increased.
- Household savings in liquid assets remained high in the second quarter of the year. Savings in bank accounts and purchases of funds accounted for the largest part of the increase, says Emil Hermansson, economist at Statistics Sweden.
Household liquid savings, i.e. their net transactions in financial liquid assets minus net borrowing, amounted to SEK 157 billion in the second quarter of the year, which is SEK 21 billion higher than in the corresponding quarter last year.
There is a seasonal variation in household liquid savings, where savings are usually highest in the second quarter. This is because tax refunds are often paid out in the second quarter, which gives many households a temporary financial boost. At the same time, the majority of dividends are paid during this period, which further strengthens households' ability to save.
In the second quarter of 2025, Swedish households net purchased funds to a value of SEK 41 billion, which corresponds to a decrease of SEK 24 billion compared with the corresponding quarter last year. Some of these transactions consist of so-called retained earnings, i.e. dividends and interest income that the funds receive and reinvest on behalf of the unitholders. During the same period, households had a net deposit with banks and other monetary financial institutions of SEK 109 billion. Net purchases of listed shares amounted to SEK 4 billion.
Swedish households' net borrowing, i.e. the sum of new loans minus amortisation, amounted to SEK 44 billion in the second quarter of 2025. This represents an increase of SEK 15 billion compared with the previous quarter and SEK 20 billion compared with the corresponding quarter last year. The annual growth rate of household loans rose to 2.2 percent in the second quarter, up from 1.8 percent in the previous quarter.
Household indebtedness over time
Since the mid-1990s, household debt has grown at a faster rate than income. The debt-to-income ratio, which measures debt in relation to disposable income, has almost doubled since 1996. It reached its highest level in 2021 and amounted to 177 percent, but has since decreased, reaching 154 percent at the end of the second quarter of 2025. A debt-to-income ratio of 154 per cent means that households' total debt corresponds to 1.54 times their annual disposable income. At the same time, debt as a share of households' financial assets has decreased from 34 percent in 1996 to 25 percent in 2025.
- The sharp rise in house prices in recent decades has led to larger loans for households, while incomes have not increased at the same rate. Despite this, debt has decreased as a share of households' financial assets, mainly due to rising values of tenant-owned apartments and other financial investments such as shares," says Emil Jansson, economist at Statistics Sweden.
Financing of non-financial corporations
In the second quarter of 2025, non-financial corporations financed themselves with net borrowing, i.e. new loans minus amortisation, with monetary financial institutions to a value of SEK 48 billion. In the previous quarter, non-financial corporations had net borrowing of SEK 13 billion, compared with SEK 4 billion in the corresponding quarter last year.
Financing through debt securities, new issues minus maturities and repurchases, amounted to SEK 34 billion in the second quarter of 2025. In the previous quarter, non-financial corporations reduced their debt in debt securities by SEK 17 billion and in the corresponding quarter of the year before they reduced their debt by SEK 13 billion.
Total loans from MFIs amounted to SEK 2,886 billion at the end of the quarter. The value of issued debt securities amounted to SEK 1,475 billion.
Revisions
In the publication of the financial accounts for the second quarter of 2025, revisions have been made back to 1995 in order to improve the statistics where new data have become available. The revisions affect both the time series for years and quarters.
The foreign sector has been revised back to 2019 with new data from the Balance of Payments.
For the central government sector, position value and transaction have been revised back to 2015 with a shift from trade credits to long-term loans. The counter-sector classification of repos between banks and foreign countries has also been revised back to 2018.
Social security funds have revised the counter-sector distribution of repurchase agreements and debt securities and corrected bank deposits between 2020 and 2025.
For municipalities and regions, the entire time series has been revised for long-term loans on the debt side. The revision is due to the municipalities reclassifying operating leases as financial leases.
The position value and the transaction in unlisted shares have been revised back to 2022 with new data from the Structural business statistics (FEK). It affects non-financial corporations' liabilities to all sectors.
The transaction in listed shares has been revised for the period 1995-2009. It affects non-financial corporations' liabilities to all sectors.
Definitions and explanations
In the statistical news, reference is made to the liquid financial savings of households. It is calculated as the difference between transactions in financial assets and liabilities excluding accruals (tax accruals, occupational pensions and other technical provisions). For more information, see the Financial Accounts Quality Declaration, section 1.2.2.
The aim of financial accounts is to provide information on financial assets and liabilities as well as changes in financial savings and financial wealth for different sectors of society. The statistics are presented in current prices and do not take inflation into account.
The financial savings in financial accounts is calculated as the difference between transactions in financial assets and liabilities. In the Real Sector Accounts, which, like the Financial Accounts, are part of the National Accounts, financial savings are calculated as the difference between income and expenses. However, financial accounts and real sector accounts are based on different sources, which gives rise to differences between these two products.
In the Financial Accounts, the government debt is calculated differently from the government debt metric that is most frequently reported and which is calculated according to the convergence criteria – the ‘Maastricht debt’. The definition of the Maastricht debt does not include all financial instruments, the instruments are presented in nominal value and the liabilities for government administration are consolidated. The government debt in the Financial Accounts is unconsolidated and includes all financial instruments at market value.
In addition to the government agencies, the government administration sector also includes certain state foundations and state-owned companies. Government administration does not include entities within the retirement pension system. Instead, they make up the social security funds sector. Municipal administration includes primary municipal authorities, regional authorities (formerly county council authorities), municipal associations and certain municipal foundations and certain municipally or regionally owned companies.
More information: National wealth
The National Wealth, which contains annual data on non-financial and financial assets, is also published in connection with the publication of the Financial Accounts. Financial assets and liabilities are collected from the Financial Accounts and are thus consistent with the values published in the Financial Accounts.
For further information, see:
Next publishing will be
The next statistical news will be published on 2025-12-18 at 08.00.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.