This report summarises the stylised facts from the 2023 wave of the Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Survey, which provides household-level data collected in a harmonised way in 20 euro area countries, as well as in the Czech Republic and Hungary, for a sample of almost 90,000 households. When compared with previous waves, the 2023 results are strongly affected by the temporary surge in inflation experienced in the euro area between 2021 and 2023. Since asset prices had not caught up with the price level by the time the survey was conducted, the real value of both assets and liabilities decreased for most households. In terms of net wealth, therefore, reductions were more pronounced for asset-rich households, while poorer, more indebted households tended to lose less, and sometimes benefit, from the price level increase. For real gross incomes, due to the slow adjustment of nominal wages, declines were recorded in the lower and middle parts of the distribution, including the median household, while those in the top income decile experienced gains. Expenditures on food were mostly stable in the aggregate, while those on utilities recorded some increase.
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