Greek households got poorer in the third quarter of 2012, with their available incomes falling by 10.6 pct to 33.2 billion euros, compared with the same period in 2011, the Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Friday.

In its report, the statistics service (ELSTAT) attributed this development to an 11.3 pct decline in workers’ earnings, a 10.2 pct cut in social benefits to households and a 17.7 pct increase in income and property taxes. The figures offered concrete evidence of citizens’ lives in austerity times.

ELSTAT also announced that taxes on incomes and property grew to 23.9 pct of total general government revenues in the third quarter of 2012, from 21.2 pct in the same period in 2011 and 18.3 pct in 2010, while wages fell to 20.7 pct of total spending in the July-September period, from 24 pct in 2011. Social benefits fell to 35.9 pct of total spending from 43.5 pct in 2011. As a result, households’ and non-profit organizations’ final consumer spending fell by 6.1 pct in the third quarter of 2012 to 35.9 billion euros, from 38.2 billion in 2011, while the savings rate was -8.1 pct in 2012 from -2.8 pct in 2011.

Gross fixed capital investments of the non-financial companies sector fell 11.3 pct in the third quarter to 2.8 billion euros, while gross fixed-capital investments fell to 15.4 pct from 16.1 pct in 2011.

The general government’s net borrowing requirements totaled 7.9 billion euros, up from 5.5 billion in 2011, reflecting higher capital transfers to banks.