The link between household savings rates and GDP: evidence from the Visegrad group

During the past two decades, two global events highlighted the importance of household savings to economies and individuals, and their relation to economic activity and growth. First, the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 reminded the world that household savings are essential for economic recovery and sustainable economic development. Second, the recent COVID-19 pandemic showed how vulnerable household savings are to various external shocks. This paper investigates the relationship between household savings rates and real GDP in the four countries of the Visegrad Group, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, for the period 1996-2021. Our empirical analyses indicate short-run Granger causality from real GDP to household savings rates, and from household savings rates to real GDP, in both the Czech Republic and Hungary. Additionally, we also report significant long-run relationships between household savings rates and real GDP, particularly in Hungary .