Between high inflation and high interest rates, it is not a surprise that net savings per household is down in both Alberta and Canada.

The latest data from Statistics Canada, show that net savings per household in Alberta was 40% lower in 2022 than in 2020. Net savings fell by 61% nationally over the same period.

The amount of money saved increased dramatically during the first year of the pandemic as public health restrictions, working from home, and supply chain disruptions reduced overall spending and government support programs supplemented household income.

Net savings per household in Alberta went from $7,830 in 2019 to $17,514 (+124%) in 2020. The annual savings per household in Canada went from a more modest $1,726 in 2019 to $12,744 (+638%) in 2020 (see the chart below).

We don’t yet have a full year of data for 2023, but the downward trend after 2020 has continued with savings per household down by 33% in Alberta over the first three quarters compared to the same period in 2022. Nationally, the drop was 17%.

Statistics Canada does not publish net savings by income quintile* at the provincial level, but we can see from the national numbers that the amount saved varies greatly by household income (see the chart below).

For the 60% of Canadian households in the three lowest income quintiles, expenses have exceeded income every year since 1999 (when the data series begins) with only one exception: households in the third quintile saw their net savings go from negative $6,182 in 2019 to positive $4,074 in 2020 (only to fall again to negative $9,685 in 2022).

It is a different story for households in the two highest income quintiles. The average household in the fourth quintile saw its net savings more than double from $10,081 in 2019 to $22,430 in 2020. As of 2022, it was $16,470.

For the highest income quintile, savings went from $49,344 in 2019 to $56,458 in 2020 and in both 2021 and 2022 to reach $61,445.

*Statistics Canada divides households into five equal groups (quintiles) from the lowest level of household income to the highest.

Answer to the previous trivia question: (Courtesy of Water Cooler Trivia): A permanent art installation just outside the town of Marfa in West Texas is built to resemble a Prada retail store.

Today’s trivia question: The Thompson family is the wealthiest in Canada. What was its estimated net worth last year?