Dissaving

The act of spending in excess of current income, financed by drawing down previously accumulated savings, selling assets, or borrowing; at the macroeconomic level, dissaving occurs when a sector's consumption exceeds its income, implying a negative saving rate. Household dissaving often accompanies economic shocks — medical emergencies, crop failures — and is a measure of household vulnerability. India's household financial savings rate declined sharply to 5.1% of GDP in 2022-23, raising concerns among economists about whether aggregate household dissaving — driven by rising financial liabilities — was eroding the domestic savings pool.