PARIS, France – “Real household income per capita in the OECD rose by 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2024 compared with 1.3 percent in the previous quarter, while real GDP per capita grew by 0.3 percent.”
Real household income per capita in the OECD rose by 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2024 compared with 1.3 percent in the previous quarter, while real GDP per capita grew by 0.3 percent (Figure 1).
Despite the overall increase in real household income per capita, the picture was mixed across OECD countries. Of the 15 countries for which data is available, 8 recorded an increase, while 7 recorded a decrease. Among G7 economies, real household income per capita grew in most countries but contracted in Canada and Germany.
The United Kingdom and Italy saw the highest increases (1.1% and 1.0%, respectively), unchanged from the previous quarter. The United States recorded an increase in real household income per capita in Q2 2024 (0.4%), down from 1.2 percent in Q1 2024, mainly due to reduced growth in renumeration of employees and government social benefit payments.
France also saw an increase (0.3%), edged down from 0.5 percent in Q1 2024 while Canada experienced a decline (-0.2%), as real GDP per capita fell for the fifth consecutive quarter. Germany also registered decreases in both real household income per capita (-0.2%) and real GDP per capita (-0.3%), the former partly reflecting weak growth in renumeration of employees and in property income combined with rising taxes on income and wealth.
Among other OECD countries, Portugal saw the largest increase in real household income per capita in Q2 2024 (2.1%), mainly driven by renumeration of employees; between Q4 2021 and Q2 2024, renumeration of employees in Portugal grew 23 percent in real terms, exceeding those of G7 economies.
The Netherlands experienced the largest contraction (-2.3%) in real household income per capita, mainly due to a fall in property income coinciding with a rise in taxes on income and wealth, although real GDP per capita increased (0.9%).
