Household incomes fell in real terms in the first quarter of 2012, according to official statistics, leaving them at their lowest level since 2005. The figures confirm gloomy data on economic growth published a few days earlier.

Key points

• ‘Real household actual income’ per head fell by 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. This is its lowest level since the second quarter of 2005.
• This was primarily due to prices going up at an increasing rate over most of the period.
• When the value of state services such as health and education is excluded, the fall is even sharper – by 1 per cent – to the lowest level since the third quarter of 2003.

Source: Andrew Barnard, The Economic Position of Households, Q1 2012, Office for National Statistics
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report