US | Here comes record-breaking consumer spending growth
Spend, save, and pay down debt – that’s exactly what US consumers did in early 2021. This supported a 14ppts jump in the personal savings rate to 27.6% – its second-highest reading ever after April 2020 – and boosted households’ excess savings to $2.3tn. The strong US consumer showing at the end of Q1 sets the tone for a summer boom.
What you will learn from this report:
- We foresee real consumption growth at 9.6% this year – the strongest performance since 1946.
- We expect US households will use about 13% of the $2.3tn in excess savings accumulated since the pandemic’s onset to smooth their outlays, supporting 5.1% consumer spending growth.
- Should consumers spend 45% of their excess savings over the next 18 months, in line with the marginal propensity to spend out of income, real GDP could be 2.5% higher than in our baseline in 2022.
Tags:
Related Services

Post
Don’t write the Eurozone consumer off just yet
Eurozone growth in 2025 will rely on consumers. There were positive signs in H2 last year, with consumers starting to deploy their real income gains and the impact of lower rates feeding through. However, we don't think solid H2 outturns signal a sustained increase in momentum. Instead, we expect spending growth to stabilise around the current pace, totalling 1.5% in 2025.
Find Out More
Post
Housing affordability lowest in Greek, Danish, and German cities
House prices across Europe have soared over the past decade, especially in cities. During this time, incomes in Europe have not kept pace with house price hikes on average, squeezing the purchasing power of homebuyers in many European cities.
Find Out More