The new EU regulation for social surveys, in force since 2021, foresees a minimum coverage of income, consumption and wealth data in two existing EU social surveys (EU Statistics on income and living conditions - EU-SILC and Household budget survey - HBS). It resulted in the collection of some elements of household consumption and wealth in EU-SILC and some elements of income and wealth in HBS data. This allows data analysis on the components of Income, Consumption and Wealth (ICW) based on both surveys individually and improves the statistical capability of statistical matching between the two data sources and with the Household Finance and Consumption Survey collected by European Central Bank.
This analysis presents data based on the EU-SILC annual variables (income) and on the 2020 ad hoc module on Overindebtedness, consumption and wealth (OCW) (elements of consumption and wealth). The results of the module are used to develop a 6-yearly module on OCW to be first collected in 2026. EU-SILC data collection in 2020 has been particularly challenging due to the significant changes of the behaviour of the households’ consumption and savings during COVID-19. In addition, different sanitary restrictions have led to adjustments to the data collection. Overall, the 2020 module data meets the quality criteria for most of the countries.